And the Gifts of the Magi Will Abound
by Jeriddian
Summary: The Resolution Universe continues as Tara, Kevin, Ron, and Kim face a critical juncture in all their lives with a danger that threatens Tara's daughter. Through it all, the Prophecy still holds sway over Kim and Ron's lives as the next stage is realized.
1. Into the Storm

**Author's Note: I am finally glad to present to you my new story set well into the future of the "Resolution" universe. It is twenty-four years later. This first part of this initial chapter will primarily set up the world for the characters in this future time, and then proceed on with the storyline, which integrates Kim, Ron, Tara, and Kevin into an adventure which sets the stage for the eventual realization of the Prophecy which has touched all of their lives. Even so, this is also going to be a Christmas story, as you can tell from the title, although you will see how that happens towards the end. As always, it's the relationships between these great characters that will always bring me joy in writing about them.**

**And the Gifts of the Magi Will Abound**

based on Campy's story "Mating Games", Disney's "Kim Possible",

and my story "Queen's Gambit Accepted"

An Essential Ronness Love Story

©Copyright by Jeriddian 2007

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related characters are property of the Disney Channel.

Also based on the first three seasons of the television series

FanFiction Rating: T

**Chapter One: Into the Storm**

Dr. Tara Monroe came through the front door of her home feeling completely exhausted. The traffic had again been murder in the Middleton snow, and she couldn't help thinking how the drive home from Team Possible Headquarters was becoming worse and worse every winter. She was sure it was because the population of the city had grown steadily ever since she and Kevin had returned from their training several years back and it was telling in the congestion on the roadways, though at least they didn't have to worry about smog as the vast majority of cars now were powered by fuel cell technology. Letting out a sigh, she tossed her remote control for the vehicle onto the hall table in the foyer and set her purse next to it, heavily dumping her patient charts and journals right beside them. Her husband always kidded her about that, saying there was no reason to lug all that paper around when it was readily available on the computer, but she just smiled and didn't argue the point. She found she could concentrate better if she read the technical stuff associated with her job in hard copy. She headed into the kitchen to see about the evening meal, but got buzzed on her communicator within three steps of making it there. Pulling it out, she smiled as she saw who it was and punched the call button. Her day immediately was brightened when Kevin's face appeared on screen.

"_Hi, honey. Everything okay there_?"

"Sure thing, Kevin.", she replied, "Just got home. About to start dinner."

"_Did your car run okay_?"

"Yeah. The mechanic said the fuel cells actually were the problem after all, and that the hydrogen collectors just needed cleaning. Looks like he was right."

"_What about the On-star system_?"

"They have to replace the module, but didn't have it in stock. It'll be in by next Thursday."

"_Good. Listen, honey. I hate to do this, but..._"

Initially apprehensive, she suddenly remembered, sighing as she said, "Oh that's right, you're on call."

"_Yeah. Sorry. I'll have to miss. I just got a beep from the cath lab. Baker's got an acute MI that he's had on the table for an hour, trying to clear the LAD. Looks like it might have ruptured, so I got to go in now. Probably won't be home 'til late_."

Tara looked blankly at the screen, slightly annoyed that the one day she had let the housekeeper/cook off so that she could make the meal for the family herself wasn't going to happen the way she wanted. Of course, she should have remembered he was on call. She felt particularly peeved too, because she really did enjoy cooking.

"_Have the kids come home yet_?"

"Any minute now.", she mildly groaned, crestfallen, "Jill had cheer practice and James had an extra orchestra rehearsal for the Christmas show. They should be on the bus by now."

"_Hmmm.',_ Kevin mused in that familiar worried tone of his_, "Have they worked out the bugs in the busing autopilots, honey? I really worried about that since that Lowerton bus crashed last month. I don't like the kids riding on them while that's a problem._"

"Well, that was a fluke, dear. Remember?" she said, "The bus driver should have been on board just in case. For some reason the autopilot malfunctioned and took off without her. The thing got twenty blocks before it got confused at that interstate ramp and shut down. It's no big now, and the program was suspended pending further study."

"_So the buses have real drivers again?_"

"Right."

"_Good. Okay, honey. I'll try to get home as soon as I can. With that new stereotactic magnetic bottle heart pump, it should cut my OR time in half. At least I hope so. I won't know until I get in there_._ Love you_."

"Yeah, I hope so, too. Love you too. See you later."

His image flickered off. She hoped that the new technology really would shorten his delay. She so wished he could be home for dinner. Some cardiovascular surgeons actually started to leave the patients on the new heart pumps overnight and operate on them in the morning, but Kevin always felt that was too dangerous to wait that long. The studies had not yet proven it was safe to do so despite the anecdotal reports. However, she still had to feed the kids, and at least they would be able to eat together with her.

She entered the kitchen and looked around in pleasure at the clean surfaces, thankful that Sophie, their housekeeper and cook, had done such a good job cleaning up before leaving the day before. But then she always did. 'The woman is a saint', Tara thought, remembering how dedicated Sophie had been, working for her and Kevin for the last seven years. She pulled out the baking sheets and bowls she needed to prepare the Chicken Cordon Bleu she had planned, along with Green Beans Almondine and garlic mashed potatoes. Smiling to herself, her anticipation grew, knowing she was going to enjoy doing this the old fashioned way, by hand. And actually, she didn't mind doing the cooking because of how much she enjoyed it. It was just that her work prevented her from doing it on any kind of a regular basis.

Yes, her work was the important thing, consdiering how important it was to the whole world of medical research, not just to her. She really did marvel that she was able to achieve her life's dream, in more ways than one, making her wonder how all the changes the world has gone through weren't able to disrupt her life, one she considered almost idyllic now. She had the perfect job, the perfect family, the perfect husband and lover. If all she had were Kevin and the kids, being a housewife and mother would have been enough, but she was thrilled at being a physician, even in these trying times of the profession.

Twenty four years ago when she graduated high school she had no clue what her life would have been like now. Prepping the cooking pans, she reflected on how the technology race had forged on with steady and impressive speed, not only in such things as the magnetic bottle heart pump Kevin now used, but also many other things; computer controlled houses which had drastically cut burglaries and even violenbt crime; the perfecting of fuel cell technology which had virtually replaced the power plants of all private vehicles; experimental auto-piloting of cars and trucks, possibly signaling a further decline in auto traffic past the one that occurred ever since Global Justice style transport tubes were expanded out to the public sector for public transport, though only in the bigger cities for now. Stabilization of the world's economies finally became possible as the Chinese eventually went to a socialist/democratic system of government which handled their dominating economic power a lot better than the old communist ways, with the Indian and Brazilian economies trying to keep pace, and through it all the United States still staying neck and neck because so many other world economies were based on the dollar.

And what made it possible? 'What else?', she thought, 'Possible made it possible.' She smiled, mentally patting herself on the back a little for her not so original wordplay. But it was true. The world was safer, and that was what allowed the progress to happen. As she and Kevin had been blessed to succeed so well in their professions and their personal lives, the same was just as true for Kim and Ron. She had been supremely successful as the dominant force in international law enforcement for the past twenty-five years. It had been so wonderful working with her organization through Team Possible Medical Center. Although technically they were her bosses, the two of them never interfered at all in her work, and they were all close friends ever since senior year of high school. That made the difference. As much as things changed, there was still the constant of these people in her life, the family that she loved, her friends like Kim and Ron, her children, Kevin...

She turned her thoughts back to the matter at hand, dinner. So far, the kids hadn't called in on their communicators, so she didn't anticipate any last minute catastrophes from them. Pulling open the refrigerator, she took out the chicken breasts and laid them out on the island. She could have used the "sub-molecular particle selective microwave temperature control oven", better known as the "smart nuke" as the proper title was such a mouthful, to do all this in half the time. It was capable of bombarding the food with certain frequencies of microwaves that affected only certain types of molecules like protein, fat, and carbohydrate, such that the oven could actually be manipulated to improve the taste. At least that's what the ads said. But she really like doing things the old fashioned way. Contrary to those appliance ads, she was sure that using an old fashioned convection oven definitely made the food taste better, even though the kids always said they couldn't tell the difference.

"Visual on.", she said, "Internet news. Channel 1425."

The voice activated forty-two inch screen came on supplanting the view outside the kitchen through the bay windows. She still marveled at how the crystalline technology allowed the LCD screen to be molded into a translucent block of glass-like material that was the bay window itself when it was turned off. You couldn't tell the difference between the display and any of the glass that surrounded it. Power was fed to it by laser beams of a frequency with harmonics in the non-visible range coming up through the glass panes below the display, contained completely within the glass itself, the power supply that actually produced the energy carrying lasers installed inside the wall beneath the window. This was a relatively new safety feature. The glass prevented any accidental contact with the beam and the burns it could cause, as well as being designed to almost completely contain the beam and not allow any of it to reflect outside the glass and possibly damage people's vision. Breaking the glass or even scratching it triggered a fail-safe shut off circuit that cut off the power beams immediately. The only drawback was that it was somewhat of a pain to replace if it malfunctioned. Nothing was visible of the display itself until it was actually turned on by verbal command, and the power lasers were invisible. The newscaster came on as the introductory music died down.

"...and today is December 21, 2031. In our top story, President Yu held a top level cabinet meeting today following her successful trip to the Middle East to negotiate the new peace treaty between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Tensions have always remained high between the three states ever since the conclusion of the third Arab-Israeli War of 2018, and terrorism has continued to plague peace efforts since then. President Yu, in the third year of her administration, continues to push for a peace plan that will ultimately nullify the tensions in the region made worse by the sudden economic devastation caused by the advent of widespread hydrogen energy technology which has now made the West almost completely free of its need for energy from oil..."

"About time.", Tara muttered to herself, "and at least the terrorism was contained."

Then she laughed, suddenly remembering the President's election campaign motto. "Yu for You!". So lame, she thought. Not that it mattered to her, since neither Tara nor her husband voted for her.

As if in answer, the newscaster continued, "In an associated statement, Secretary of Defense Stellman attributed much of the success of stemming the tide of global violence to continuing efforts by US military forces, the CIA, and specialized professional groups such as Global Justice and Team Possible. The Secretary noted that without them, the powder keg that is the Middle East might never have been brought to the peace table."

'Duh!', Tara thought with some real irritation, 'And still the world really doesn't know how many times Kim really saved their butts!'

She prepared the breading as she thought back to how much of an integral part of the control of world terrorism really was due to Team Possible's presence. Once Kim had finally defeated Drakken for good and turned Shego back into a hero and ally, the world's super villains were quickly routed and the majority were now permanently jailed, many now too old to capably take up their old ways any more. A few managed to slip away, but they were unable to seriously attempt their plans of world domination like they had before, not with Team Possible in full force as it was now. Kim then turned her attention more to terrorism and had been instrumental in bringing that under control more than any other organization, but one would never know it from listening to the media.

Politics always reared its ugly head in situations like this. For example, even though Kim Possible was the primary player who captured Bin Laden in 2010, not in the least the sum of her many other accomplishments, Team Possible simply never got the recognition as the lead unit for that operation, nor in the war on terror as the other government agencies were always taking credit where they could, earned or not. That's what Kevin always thought and said. Ron himself agreed with him on that point and had always wanted to make an issue of it with the press and the government. But Kim nixed that idea, not wanting to get into any confrontational situations over what she considered a minor issue. As long as it didn't interfere with the outfit's operation or funding, she was content with the fact that at least the people in the "business", so to speak, knew the truth. Still, Tara was also irritated that Kim wasn't being properly recognized.

Tara knew all this because she was very much in the loop in Team Possible. It was necessary that she be included in top level briefings as Chief of Medicine. She had been a staff physician at Team Possible Medical Center ever since finishing her training. As the primary leader of the medical floors and intensive care units, she had to attend those briefings in regards to Team Possible operations to insure medical needs were covered during missions. She had specialized as a pediatric oncologist, but gladly hired on to head the Internal Medicine Department at the medical wing of Team Possible's headquarters complex by Kim soon after she arrived there. Her residency had been a combined Pediatrics/Internal Medicine program after which she specialized in Hematology/Oncology. It was a good opportunity as Kim's mother had continued her role as Chief of Staff there and had developed the Team Possible Medical Center into a top notch, internationally known institution of cutting edge medical treatment. It was a plum position to have. Kevin also hired on as a staff cardiovascular surgeon, although his principle practice was developed at Middleton Medical Center.

'My God.' she said to herself as she reminisced, marvelling at it all, 'Twenty four years since graduation together at Middleton High.'

She started cutting the chicken breasts as she thought back over those years. She and Kevin had gone to Dartmouth, marrying at the end of their freshman year, graduating, then going on to Stanford Medical School. Jill was born just as they fininshed medical school, James coming four years later, well into into her second fellowship. Kim and Ron started at Middleton University before transferring to upstate New York, both of them graduating there. She and Ron married just after their college graduation in a ceremony that was beset by the press, one of the disadvantages of their fame, of course. They almost eloped, but made a deal with the photographers and reporters to allow them to cover the wedding as long as the honeymoon was off limits. The boys were born two years later, followed by the girls four years after that. Despite their being apart, Tara and Kim still maintained contact, and when Tara accepted the position at the medical center eleven years ago, Kim was among the happiest to see her come back home. Their friendship was reaffirmed and strengthened as they worked together and watched their kids play with each other over the years.

Now, Kim's boys were eighteen, freshmen in college at Middleton University, and K-J and Mim were fourteen, in ninth grade at Middleton High. The thought of K-J made her laugh to herself as she opened a can of green beans. Of course, they called her that to keep her from being confused with her mother, and like their mother had been before them, both of the twins were standout freshmen cheerleaders at Middleton High. The children grew up happy and healthy, the boys staying true to their Possible roots with their hare-brained rocket science experiments reminiscent of their uncles and their grandfather. The girls seemed to be a little more staid like their grandmother, although K-J really had turned into a mini-Kim all her life. Mim wasn't really far off from that either, although she did have a tendency to be more thoughtful and less headstrong than her older sister.

Even so, the girls were always adventurous, sometimes to their mother's chagrin, like the time they were three years old and they heard the ice cream truck roll by when Kim had them in the tub, bathing them. Kim had only turned her head for a second before she realized they had bolted out the door and onto the street, chasing down that truck. Even then their athletic abilities were showing up, and Kim was hard pressed to catch them after first snagging a couple of bath towels to take with her. She caught up with them just as they startled the ice cream vendor with their pleas for double dippers in their birthday suits. Kim quickly put the towels around them, her face red in embarrassment, hurrying them back inside while roundly scolding the girls. Tara grinned, remembering how put out Kim was about it back then. These days she loved to tell that story to people much to the twins' aggravation, although there was some reason she never told the story with her own mother within earshot. Tara couldn't figure that one out, but she did have a sneaking suspicion of a similar episode in Dr. Possible's memory. Thinking back to the girls, she remembered they were always quick learners, and true to their philosophy, Kim and Ron were adamant about training their children in gymnastics and cheer, as well as the sixteen styles of Kung Fu that she had ingrained within her. That was something Tara always knew Kim had somehow mastered, but she never really understood exactly how she had done it.

She chuckled softly at the memories as she drained the green beans. Ironically, the girls were actually proving better than their older brothers when it came to their martial training. As could be expected, they all took after Kim and dove right into it with enthusiasm, and the competition between the siblings, though loving, was fierce. And now, the girls were starting to upstage their older brothers, much to their irritation. She pictured in her mind's eye how they worked out in the gym at Team Possible headquarters under Ron's tutelage. The girls enjoyed their superiority, but the ironic thing was Kim and Ron had allowed the boys to go on missions since they were thirteen, but still would not let the girls go at age fourteen, even though they were better, which put the girls out a lot. They tried to argue that even Aunt Jos had gone on big missions at their age, as well as their own mother saving the world even younger than that, but Kim and Ron wouldn't have any of it. Tara had thought sometimes about playing devil's advocate by taking the twins' sides if Kim ever asked her advice because she thought they had good heads on their shoulders. But after all was said and done, the decision still belonged to their parents.

Unfortunately, the subject of Kim's daughters arguing with her only made her think about her own daughter. She lost her smile as she prepared the butter and the ham, her thoughts turning to Jill. Tara still thought her life was as perfect as it could get. However, lately there had been a snag, if you could call it that.

'If only Jill had as much good sense', she thought.

At sixteen, Jill Guberman was almost the spitting image of Tara at that age, but with Kevin's greyish eyes. Her platinum locks were just as striking as her mother's though straighter, and as long as her mother's had been at her age. Tara's hair was now cut to a more manageable shoulder length. Jill's hair reminded Tara so much of her friend Jess' luxurious mane at times. The problem with Jill was she had turned into a real spitfire and had become aggravatingly headstrong and disobedient. Lately, she had been cutting some classes and getting into some minor trouble at school. Even more troubling to Tara was the way she argued and rebelled against her parents when they tried to discuss it with her, and when they became exasperated and tried to discipline her, even grounding didn't seem to have any effect.

There had been minor problems of this sort earlier on, as could be expected with children, but began in earnest when she had started dating one of the basketball players, which bothered Tara tremendously. Neither she nor Kevin liked the boy when they met him the one time she brought him home. He was a snob if ever they saw one, a definite "food chain" type, in her mind. She never let it be known to her daughter how it brought back too many painful memories of what happened to her when she was Jill's age. She wasn't able to hide it very well, which only confused Jill as there was no way she could understand her mother's turmoil. Kevin knew exactly what was going through her head and her heart, but did not intervene. He felt Tara had to choose when and if she would say anything. Still, the girl didn't understand her mother's anxiety about the boy, and this only intensified her rebellion towards her parents. The one small comfort Tara had was that she was sure the relationship hadn't gone too far. But she just didn't know what to do about it. Although she thought she would tell Jill what happened to her when she was old enough, Tara still hadn't done it. Kevin began to wonder if she ever would. Of course, he was leaving it up to her to decide when, and he did emphasize to his wife that he thought she needed to tell her. But it was a subject Tara felt extremely uncomfortable thinking about, much less discussing. Now, she was forced to mull that decision over again as her attention was distracted once more by the news on the display.

"In sports today, the Seattle Seahawks will play their night game against the Tokyo Blue Dragons in a battle that will decide the Far Eastern Conference title for the WFL. The Far East expansion team has made the fastest climb in recent years towards the Super Bowl title of any team in the league. Ever since The old NFL Europa folded back in 2007, the creation of the new WFL and its new attempt to make American football a global sport has been the best chance for the new league to gain a worldwide fan base. Turning to other sports news, a representative for the Denver Nug-"

The communicator beeped, startling her out of her fugue. Idly, Tara wished it was one of the special ones used by Kim and the military, not the less powerful commercial units marketed by Wade fifteen years ago as an answer to combining all communication devices, essentially knocking the old I-phone, I-pods, and Blackberry out of business. She actually did have a military grade one which Kim had given her, but it was only to be used in emergency situations. Most people her age would still call it a cell phone, but it was so much more than that now. Since it was Wade's invention, he stayed with the common name 'communicator', and it caught on. Often, the younger crowd would shorten it to 'com'.

'Oh, well.', she thought idly, 'It certainly has made him a multi-billionaire like Ron.'

She tapped the screen, turning it on. It was Jill. Since she was grounded, she was supposed to report in every time she went somewhere.

"Hi, honey.", she said smiling, "Cheer practice go okay?"

"_Yeah, just fine, mom_.', the teen said sullenly, "_Just calling to let you know I'm coming home now. I'm about to get on the bus_."

"Okay, I'm putting dinner in the oven. Should be about ready by the time you get home. Where's your brother?"

"_He's already on his way_."

"I see. You're taking the late bus, then. You seem kind of down, honey. Anything going on?"

"_No, nothing._", she said, but obviously something was bothering her.

Tara didn't press it. She knew her daughter and even with the strain in their relationship, it wouldn't be surprising if she didn't eventually bring it up at some point. Jill wasn't the type to bottle things up.

"Well, I'm glad you checked in. I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

"_Yeah, bye_.", she replied, and the image clicked off abruptly.

Tara put the communicator away, bothered by the terse disconnect. She turned her attention back to the chicken breasts, stuffing them with the ham and the butter. The news channel anchor continued to drone on.

"...long time veteran forward has been out of action for almost three weeks. He hasn't played in their last eight games due to reported illness although no formal announcement has been made. An attempt was made by this station to get a statement, but it appears he is unreachable at this time. Of course, his privacy is jealously guarded by both himself and the team, and little more information has come to light. In other news, the Denver Avalanche has announced their star defenseman will probably be out for the season as a result..."

The front door opened and closed. Looking up, Tara saw her twelve year old son come through the kitchen heading straight for the fridge.

"Hey, mom."

"Hey, James.", she said smiling again, "How was practice?

"It was okay. I think we finally got that medley of carols down."

"The one with _Chestnuts_ in it?"

"Yeah. It should rock now!", he said enthusiastically.

Tara grinned, wondering how that phrase managed to survive in teen vocabulary for three generations.

"What's for dinner?"

"Chicken Cordon Bleu.'"

"Hmmmmm!", he said enthusiastically, "You do that better than Sophie!"

"James, how can that be?", she said looking at him in amused puzzlement, "You're always telling me you can't taste any difference between smart nuke and hand made."

"I dunno.", he replied, looking at her with an innocent expression, a milk moustache on his upper lip from the glass he poured himself, "Yours just tastes better."

Tara rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Well, don't tell Sophie that. She's rather proud of her cooking."

"Sure, Mom. Jill told me to tell you she's on her way."

"Yes. She commed me a few minutes ago. Why didn't she come with you on the regular bus?"

"Uh, I think she was having a talk with her boyfriend."

"A talk?"

"More like an argument, I'd say."

Tara grimaced, knowing now why Jill had taken the later ride, and maybe why she was so terse.

"Anything I should know about, James?"

"Nah. Just the same old moopy stuff. Hey, Mom! Are you up for a game tonight? I want to try another opening."

"If we have time, son. We'll see. I'm hoping your father will make it home at a decent hour."

His face fell slightly as he moaned, "Again?"

"Yes, James.", she said, "You know how our work goes. Sometimes we have to do this to take care of the patients.

"I know.", he pouted, "It's just so lame, him not being here all the time."

Now that was a term that really made her smile. Somehow it has survived the generational change too.

"I am _so_ getting too old.", she mused to herself.

She became serious again and told him, "It is not lame, James. It's what we do. We've explained this to you and your sister before. And by the way, he does make it home on time rather often, I might add. Now dinner will be ready in about an hour. Go ahead and get washed up."

He finished his milk and set the glass in the sink.

"Okay, mom. I'll set up the board, too."

"Good enough, son. Use your great-grandfather's set."

She smiled to herself again as he skipped out of the kitchen and went upstairs. She had made a point of teaching both of her children how to play chess. They were actually very good at it, too, although Jill had lost interest about three years prior. Of course, that was not unexpected. Tara didn't try and make her stay with it, knowing exactly what she was going through.

She finally finished breading the chicken breasts and placed them on the cooking sheet, then prepared the vegetables. Just as she set them to heat up, she heard the front door open and close again.

"Jill?", she called out, "I'm in the kitchen."

Her daughter came into the kitchen, holding her books in front of her, a very sour look on her face. Dumping them onto the dining room table, she sat down rather dejectedly in the nearest chair. She was wearing her cheer uniform, and Tara noted once again how it had changed so little from the days when she wore one. True, the styling was different, but the basic cut of the cloth, the skirt, and the top really hadn't changed all that much. And it really did look good on her. Tara was glad her daughter had inherited her looks.

"Dinner's just about ready, honey. Why don't you go ahead and get cleaned up?"

"In a minute, Mom. You're making the chicken again?"

"Yes. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Has Dad made it home yet?"

"No, honey. He's on call. There's an emergency bypass he has to do."

"So he won't be here?", she asked in monotone.

"'fraid not, honey. How come?"

"Nothing.", she mumbled in reply as she got back up, gathered her books, and headed towards the stairs to her room.

Tara sighed. Jill seemed to have an easier time talking to her father of late when she had problems, and she didn't really mind, but she still wished she would open up more with her.

"Are you having problems with your boyfriend?", she asked, trying to draw her out.

Jill looked up at her accusingly from the kitchen entrance, "How did you find that out?"

"Your brother mentioned seeing you having an argument with him at school today."

"Hmmph! Little brother needs to keep his nose out of my business!"

"Jill, he wasn't snooping or anything."

"I don't want to talk about it!", she snapped, quickly exiting the kitchen and heading upstairs.

Tara stared at her as she left the room. Jill was pretty upset about something all right. Only the sound of the video display interrupted the stillness as she paused in her cooking to wonder why.

"...and in the Colorado area, a cold front is headed straight out of the north bringing with it strong cloud cover and a high probability of snow. Blizzard conditions are likely over the next five to seven days, and this could be one of the most severe storms seen in the region in many years, but it should clear to bright and sunny skies, and the skiing conditions should be excellent..."

"Viewer off.", she said, depressed and no longer interested. The screen disappeared back to the clear window pane overlooking the view of the back yard as she resumed her preparations of the food. A quick glance at the back yard showed her the beginnings of a light falling of snow coming down. The temperature had not been too cold, but she knew it would quickly drop now. Thinking back to Jill, she knew she was finally going to have to sit down and talk to her about this boyfriend of hers. She was even more torn about whether or not to tell her what happened to her back in high school. But whatever the problem was, they had to resolve it one way or the other, and telling her might help. Jill had been far too troubled, lately...

Dinner was quiet for the three of them, which was exactly what Tara didn't want. It was uncommon enough for them to all have dinner together since both she and Kevin had such busy careers, though early on it wasn't that way. She had taken time off to stay with the kids and raise them back then, but once they started school, she had gone back to the work she loved, getting involved in her main field of study which was primary brain tumors in children, and she thoroughly enjoyed her work. Thanks to grants made available through Ron's Bueno Nacho—Bueno Kids Foundation, she had become a major contributor to research in the subject.

Her mind wandered. She especially had contributed to one particular field which dealt with potentially life saving treatment of refractory cases of certain types of brain tumors which had failed initial treatment strategies. That reminded her. She had those journals to read tonight. It might help to give her ideas to gaining the only thing she needed to complete that line of research, which was a much larger grant. She had been angling for one over the past two years, but without success. If she could get it, the needed capital could fund the breakthroughs she was sure she could achieve in treatment of primary brain tumors in children. But one and a half billion dollars didn't just hang off trees (unless you listened to Kim's father. He certainly liked to tell that story a lot.), and even Bueno Nacho had a hard time coming up with that kind of money. She had worked closely with Ron to secure the money, but for the last two years, they had only been able to raise a little over a quarter of it.

Recently the contributions had been drying up too, as they had pretty much exhausted their contacts. The research was so important to her because it would finally give her the tools to possibly get as much as ninety percent cure rates of the vast majority of these deadly cancers. This was unheard of in medical circles and if she pulled it off, it would be an incredible medical miracle. Even Ron got intensely excited about it, boasting that Tara would get a Nobel Prize for her work, but she dismissed that as unimportant. 'Unlikely too', she thought to herself. She just wanted to get her chance to complete the dream of her life's work, to be able to help these unfortunate children. But in the end, what it boiled down to was the technology, and that always cost money, and a lot of it.

She thought back to Jill, concerned that the cost of her pursuing her career goal was less time for the children. Initially, she had not thought it to be a problem. The children were happy, growing, expanding their minds in different ways and activities, not wanting to be so closely supervised by their parents, wanting their independence. But lately, she had begun to wonder if that had been the wisest course of action. This night seemed to underscore that. While James had been conversant enough. Well, two sentences was conversant for him, it seemed, especially when he spent most of the time just stuffing his face like any twelve year old boy would. Jill had sat quietly through the meal, idly toying with her food and only occasionally taking a bite of the chicken, a dish she normally had enjoyed very much in the past. When it was over, she silently helped clear the dishes from the table and placed them in the sonic cleaner. Tara still had the habit of calling it the dishwasher although it was entirely new technology using ultrasonic vibrations which cleaned everything without any need for detergents. Tara was always amazed at how they managed to keep from breaking even the most delicate china, yet still clean it so well.

When James asked about the game, Tara quietly said yes, all the time still looking at Jill, worrying about her state of mind. As her daughter trudged up the stairs to her room, Tara could only watch impotently, then turned her attention to her son. He had set up the chess board in its usual position in their den before the fireplace.

She sat down and looked over the pieces, and a warm feeling came over her, as it always did every time she saw them. A little more yellow, yet more inviting with age, the hand carved chessmen her grandfather had made her never failed to cheer her up. Like old friends, they seemed to look up at her with smiles, reminding her of some of the most wonderful times in her life, not only with him, but also with her husband. Briefly she looked up over the mantle of the fireplace to the old display case hanging there, the one Kevin had made for her in high school which had memorialized her grandfather. The old varnish had actually grown shinier with time and regular polishing. Everything within seemed to remain ageless, except that last letter he wrote her, the two pages of which had slowly yellowed to a glowing golden color in the firelight.

On the mantle were three trophies. One belonged to Kevin, who had won the New England Open of 2009. The other two were hers, for the New England Open of 2010 and the the US Open Championship in 2011 in the first year of medical school at Stanford. They were rated grandmasters then, but afterwards chess had to take a back seat. They played very little once medical school started, much less did any other activity. Kevin had once remarked that 'medicine is a very harsh taskmistress', a statement his father has actually made. She couldn't have agreed more. Now, they were no longer anywhere near grandmaster level, but could still be quite formidable. Tara and Kevin both were proud they could pass on their love of the game to their children. To their great pleasure, they enthusiastically took up the game, and James was the top player at his middle school.

He started off with what appeared to be a new version of the Caro-Kann Defense. Tara groaned. She could barely remember that opening. There were about eight variations and she could recall none of them except the classical, and that one just barely. She played on gamely, able to initially get positional advantage. But she was too distracted, too worried about Jill, and it wasn't long before James was able to trap a pawn and take that advantage away. She tried to shake her mind loose from the cobwebs of her worry and concentrate on the game when she heard a car door slam outside.

She turned and looked at the front door saying, "Is that your father? He must have finished fairly quickly."

But then the whine of the car's electric motor seeped through the door, and Tara realized it was her car. Quickly she turned to the hall table and saw that her remote control was missing.

"Jill!", she yelled, jumping up from the chair and running for the door. Just as she threw it open and went out into the swirling snow, she saw the tail lights disappear out of the driveway.

"Damn it, Jill!", she yelled, then went inside and slammed the door shut.

James had stood up, his eyes showing worry, "What'd she do, Mom?"

"She drove off!", she replied angrily as she fumbled around in her purse for her communicator.

"But she's only got a learner's permit. She can't drive alone."

"I know that, James! Now do me a favor and put up the chess board and go to your room. I'm going to try and talk to her."

"But, Mom."

"Not now, James! Please! Do it!"

Frustrated, the boy did as he was told.

Finding the communicator, she quickly dialed Jill's number. As she waited for it to ring, she started to hear music coming out of Jill's room, and it sounded like her ring tone. Running up the stairs, she entered her daughter's room to find her communicator sitting on her vanity, ringing away.

Disgusted, Tara shut down her own unit. Jill knew she would try to call her, and obviously didn't want to talk. 'But why didn't she just not answer it instead of leaving it?', she thought. She went back downstairs and tried to think about what to do. Kevin was probably still in surgery. Then she thought, 'her friends'. She went back up to Jill's room and picked up the communicator, starting to thumb through her phone number banks. Soon she found what she was looking for, Jill's best friend, Karen Jensen. She dialed the number.

"_Hello, girlfriend! How's it going_?"

"Uh, Karen, this is Mrs. Guberman."

There was some surprise on the other end as the image of the surprised brunette teen came up, _"Oh! Mrs. Guberman. Uh, sorry about that. I didn't expect you to call on Jill's com_."

"It's okay, dear. But I really need your help right now. Jill's driven off in my car and I can't get a hold of her. She left her com here in her room. Can you tell me where she might be going?"

There was some hesitation on the other end, "_Er, I'm not real sure, Mrs. Guberman_."

"Please, Karen, she's alone and the weather is starting get real bad."

There was a sigh, then, "_Well, my guess would be she went to see Jeff. They had a real scorcher of an argument today. I think he might have dumped her. Did you say she was alone? Driving alone?_"

Tara closed her eyes and grimaced in frustration. Jeff Masick was the basketball player she had been dating.

"Yes, Karen. She's driving alone. Do you know where she might be meeting him?"

" _Oh my God. I can't believe she did that. Uh, there are several places she might be at, but they usually meet at the Bueno Nacho close to school._"

"Okay. Thanks, Karen. Please, call the rest of the squad and tell them they need to find her. This blizzard is going to be dangerous and she's out there by herself."

"_Sure thing, Mrs. Guberman. I'll start calling now_."

"Thanks, dear. I'll be in touch."

"_Yes, ma'am_", she replied and cut the connection.

Tara went downstairs again and gathered up her coat. She was sure she could get Kim or one of her boys to give her a ride when she heard a motor whine in the drive way. Excitedly she rushed to the door, hoping to find Jill had come back, but it was Kevin, finally returning home from surgery, still dressed in his scrubs and an overcoat.

Noticing how distraught she looked, he frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Quickly she relayed the events of the night to him and then told him where they might find Jill. Swiftly he turned back around and got into the car as Tara called upstairs and told James she and his father were going out to find his sister and for him to stay at home. Activating the computer at the door, she issued verbal instructions to it on securing the house, then went out the door and got into the car. The snow was coming down harder and visibility was getting to be a problem. Kevin couldn't go too fast, and it still took them forty-five minutes to get to the restaurant. When they got there, they entered and started looking around. It was still a teen hangout as much as it had been when they were in high school, although the place had gone through a couple of renovations since then. They searched each booth until they came to one with several boys wearing letterman jackets, laughing and joking. One of them was Jeff Masick.

He looked up, and lost his smile, remembering the one night he had met them had not turned out too well.

"Uh, hi, Dr. Guberman. Dr. Monroe."

By the look on Tara's face, the other boys gathered pretty quickly they weren't invited for this conversation, and they slowly drifted away until only Jeff was left sitting there.

Tara came right to the point, "Have you seen Jill?"

"Yes, ma'am. She left here, like, ten minutes ago."

"Do you know where?"

"No, she didn't say."

"What were you arguing about?"

His face grimaced, "Look, Dr. Monroe. I think Jill's a sweet kid and all, but, well, she's just not my type, you know. I don't want to hurt her. I was trying to let her down easy."

"So you broke up with her. Is that why she's so upset?"

"Yeah. I didn't think she'd take it so hard. I mean she really kind of freaked out."

The kid could see Tara was angry, but couldn't understand why. He was sure she didn't want him dating her daughter. He thought she'd be happy. Instead, the woman was really upset. Tara was thinking how she knew his type through and through, and she just couldn't believe Jill didn't see him for what he was. Jeff became worried as Tara's stare took on a harsher light.

"Was there something I could do.", he started.

"What was it you were expecting from her?", she interrupted, "To put out?"

The boy's face clouded over with contempt, "Hey lady, I don't need this. There's lots of girls out there who want to go out with me. Most of them are a lot more fun, too."

Tara's face went white with rage. She slammed her fists down on the table and angrily stared him down. Everything went quiet inside the restaurant. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared back at the table where they were. Her face inches from his, he quickly backed down in shock at the virulence of her action, scampering back into the far end of the bench seat as he tried to avoid those ice blue eyes burning laser beams into his face. Kevin held on to her arm, as if to keep her under control.

"Tara.", he said, "Tara, come on. There's nothing more to be gained here. We've got to go find her."

Still staring at Jeff, shaking hard, she hissed at him, "You stay away from my daughter! You hear me?"

He didn't answer, trembling from her raw emotion. He just nodded his head a couple of times.

Slowly she stood back up from the table, her eyes never leaving his until she turned and walked swiftly out of the restaurant, Kevin following her. They got back in the car and as they buckled in, Kevin asked her.

"Okay, what was that about?"

Tara stared straight ahead, mentally controlling her fury

"You weren't there." she finally answered, "but that's exactly what _he_ said when I broke up with him that summer."

Kevin gazed at her for a long moment before responding, "Oh."

He wasn't going to touch that one right now. She rarely brought _him_ up, and he knew better than to push it now, especially with Jill lost out there somewhere. He started up the car and drove out on the street.

"Okay, where to?"

With another deep sigh she said, "Let's try the parents."

They called both sets of parents to see if Jill had contacted them, but they hadn't heard from her. Tara told them they would call back and keep updating the situation as more information came in. She pulled out Jill's com again and tried all of her other friends. None of them had seen her either. The wind had started to pick up, and it looked like the blizzard was about to hit Middleton head on. The snow plows had not made it out yet, and it was a miracle that they were able to navigate the roads any better than they could. Somehow they made it back home. They were crushed to find Jill hadn't returned.

Once inside, Tara said, "I using it, Kevin."

Kevin looked at her steadily, 'I think you should."

Tara went to the master bedroom and opened up a drawer in the night table on her side of the bed. Rummaging down, she pulled out a white box and opened it, revealing a standard Team Possible military style Kimmunicator. Kim's people now used the wrist models, and the old handheld units were relegated to emergency purposes like this. Kevin sat down beside her as she activated it. They heard the standard four beep signal and the screen flashed on.

Wade Load looked at them sipping on his traditional slurpee, frowning slightly in puzzlement with his grin.

"Tara! Kevin! It's been a while!", he said in his deep bass voice and smiling.

Then his smile dropped, "Oh! You're using the emergency unit, I guess I should ask what's wrong, huh?"

"Wade, Jill's missing.", she replied, her face strained, "I need to talk to Kim."

Alarm filled Wade's face, as he started hitting keys on his keyboard.

"Okay. Let me get hold of her. I'll get back to you in a minute."

The screen flashed off. Thirty seconds later, it beeped and came on again, Kim's face and red hair filling the screen, a look of concern on her features.

"What's the sitch, Tara?

"Oh, Kim! Jill's gone missing!"

Rapidly she recounted the night's events to her, just as she had with Kevin.

"She must be really upset, Tara.", Kim finally said, "It sounds like she's not thinking straight."

"She doesn't have her com with her, either. I guess she didn't want me continually trying to ring her when she took the car."

"Can you give me the ID number to the On-Star. We can track her down that way."

"No, we can't, Kim. It's non-functional. I've been trying to get it repaired , but the main computer module part isn't in the dealership yet."

Kim was silent for a moment, "Do you have any idea where she might have gone?"

"No. I'm sorry, but we've tried all her friends, my parents, Kevin's parents... ...Nobody's seen her."

"Uh, did you ever put a microchip in her?"

"Of course not!", Tara answered, "That's unethical."

"Yes, of course.", Kim muttered back, "Sorry, had to ask."

"It's okay, Kim. I know you're trying to help. What now?"

Kim grimaced, "It looks like we do this the hard way. How long has she been gone?"

"Probably about two to three hours now. But I am really worried about her being out in this blizzard."

"Yeah, me too. Okay, three hour maximum means she couldn't have traveled more than a hundred miles in this weather. We'll start the search patterns immediately."

"How hard will it be?"

Kim looked back Tara grimly, "I won't lie, Tara. With this blizzard coming in, it will be like trying to find that needle in the haystack. Let's just pray we get lucky. I know this is hard on you, but right now, I want you guys to get some rest tonight. I'll send a chopper to pick you up first thing in the morning. This blizzard is going to hit us like a sledgehammer, and I don't expect the plows are going to be able to get out for some time. Nobody's doing any driving tomorrow."

"You'll start looking now?", Tara said tearfully, unable to hold back any more.

"I already gave the orders, Tara, when Wade told me she was missing. The rescue choppers are going out as I speak. Now get some rest. I'll contact you on this unit if I find out anything."

The Kimmunicator went blank. Tara stared at it for several seconds as the tears flowed down, then she broke down sobbing into her husband's arms.

* * *

**Chapter Two should be up in a couple of days or so.**


	2. The Search Begins

**Gradually, I will be introducing the characters again. A lot can happen in twenty four years, and of course, there is the next generation...**

**Chapter Two**

**The Search Begins**

The blizzard started its onslaught before sundown. At Team Possible headquarters complex just outside Middleton, the airfield buttoned down for the storm. The main operations complex was an impressive three story structure centralized on the grounds of the compound, but was well overshadowed by the more eye pleasing Medical Center connected to it, a beautiful seven story hospital/clinic building that had been finished only ten years earlier, and still in a state of remodeling on two of the floors. The beautiful royal blue marble and black trim of the building's facade contrasted starkly with the unimpressive slate gray of the military like complex next to it, but that was the way it was planned, to keep attention away from it as much as possible. On the surface, the Medical Complex was the shining star of the Team Possible site, and nothing about it pointed to the seventeen stories of underground levels and bunkers hidden beneath the operations center, devoted wholly to the primary mission of Team Possible under the command of their director, the once famous teen hero who was now an experienced forty two year old woman at the height of her profession. Backed by her original team from her teenaged days, she had forged an unbeatable combination of crime fighters, supported by an organization of over a hundred primary operatives made up of ex-military and specially assigned armed forces operatives which scoured and watched the globe for any signs of danger to the world, and that didn't count the support staff. Team Possible wasn't as big as Global Justice, but they got the job done.

Just then, Kim Possible was thinking about that, getting the job done. The airfield on the northern end of the complex, on the opposite side from the operations center of where the Medical Center was located, quickly got dumped on by at least four or five inches of snow an hour. All fixed wing craft had been grounded six hours prior. Wind velocities were now approaching fifty miles an hour and visibility was almost zero. The only things capable of negotiating this miasma were the new VTOL's TP had recently procured from the government, one of the few advantages of the headache of accepting government sponsorship several years back. It took just two hours for Kim to finish sending out the search and rescue teams. As soon as she had finished talking to Wade, she immediately hit the scramble alarm as she called Tara. She met with the assembled teams fifteen minutes later and gave them their mission orders, then left it to the mission commander and the OD to plan the details. The birds started taking off barely ten minutes later, and only took as long as they did because of the inclement weather. But even two hours was a phenomenal time to get twenty birds out of the hangar.

Back in her office, she powered up the control panel, then tapped on the huge screen twice. A split view screen appeared. On the left was a view of the main hangar. The face of the Officer of the Day filled the right half as two V-26 Sunhawks, the successors to the V-22 Ospreys, were taking off to her left in the background out of the hangar door. The OD's face was focused momentarily on his own panel on another screen, but soon noticed Kim and shifted his attention to her...

"Yes, Commander?"

"How many more birds are left to launch, lieutenant?"

"Just four more, ma'am."

"And that makes twenty birds total, correct?"

"Correct, ma'am. We've gridded the search area accordingly."

"That should leave eighty six craft for global operations if I've counted right."

"That's right, Commander, not counting the rotary wings, but of course, it's not recommended they launch in this weather either."

"Of course, lieutenant. Any update on Operation Mars?"

"None, commander.", replied the OD a little dejectedly, "ComIntel hasn't relayed anything further so far, at least to merit standard security level rating."

"I see. Okay, carry on. I'll be down shortly to check on the Flytetraxx. Command out.", and she tapped the screen off.

Leaning back in her office chair for a minute, Kim was motionless, deep in thought. Of course, she was just as worried as Tara about Jill. Hell, she'd go out there personally herself and do it if it wasn't for the fact she was expressively prevented by her agreement with the government not to risk herself on missions unless absolutely necessary. Of course, what _they_ considered absolutely necessary and what _she_ considered absolutely necessary were often two very different things.

On top of that, she was also in the middle of a top secret investigation. And talk about bad timing. Operation Mars had been an ongoing search for the one thing she had dreaded having to do for the last twenty-five years, going after Drakken again. She had been so sure he wouldn't ever get out, and in actuality he hadn't, or so they thought. It wasn't until he had a heart attack four weeks ago and was shipped to the hospital nearest his prison facility for treatment. Standard testing revealed some rather weird results, and further testing found some unusual genetic markers in his blood. Since Kim was the noted Drakken expert, she was contacted about it and Wade, as head of intelligence and counter-intelligence, better known now as ComIntel, analyzed the sample of Drakken's serum that was sent to him.

He found it was a clone.

In part due to genetic inferiority of the clone, it had succumbed to its sudden illness, but this left the obvious question brooding in Kim's mind, as well as everyone else's. When did he escape? And to where? After they got over the initial shock, they had gone over the prison records and monitor vidscreen disks meticulously, but could not find any indication of a change that would suggest when the clone was slipped into his place. The bottom line was they had no idea how long Drakken had been free. Even weirder, there had been no activity on his part whatsoever that they knew of, so this strongly suggested to Kim that he had only gotten out recently, but something nagged her. She didn't know why, but she had the distinct impression that he had actually been out and gone for a very long time. The only question that remained then was if he had been out all these years, why hadn't they heard from him? And worse, how had he created a clone of himself far better than he had ever produced in the past?

Drumming her fingers on the control panel in front of the screen, she mulled that question over again for several moments until the Kimmunicator beeped, startling her. Irritated, she looked up and tapped the screen once more, shifting the Kimmunicator call to it. Her daughter's bright face appeared, filling the entire screen with a three foot tall image of her head.

"K-J!", Kim exclaimed, relaxing and smiling, 'Hi, honey! What up?"

"Hi, Mom!"", K-J said excitedly, "Hey! It's all over school! The squad's looking for Jill! Karen said she was lost in the storm and she asked us all to find her for her mother!"

"You're not home yet?"

"Late practice. But yeah, we are, now. We heard just as we were leaving. Did you hear?"

"Yes, I know, honey.", Kim lamented, "Dr. Monroe and I have already talked, and we're conducting a search. We should be able to find her soon."

K-J's eyes got excited, "Cool, Mom! Can we come? You said you'd think about taking us on a non-combat mission!"

A voice off to the side suddenly said, "Mission? Did you say mission?"

Suddenly there were two identical faces as Mim joined her twin sister looking out of the huge screen at their mother.

"Is that true, Mom?", she asked, eyes wide, "Are we going on a mission? Is it true?"

"Now, wait a minute, girls.", Kim said, "I didn't say any such thing."

"But Mom!", exclaimed K-J, "You and Dad promised! You said we could go out on the next one!"

Kim frowned at her eldest daughter, "We said no such thing, young lady. We said the next mission that was _safe_ enough to go out on. There's a class five blizzard brewing out there!"

"But Mom! _Any_ mission you go out on is by definition not going to safe enough!"

"Not this one, K-J!", Kim said sternly, 'It's still too dangerous."

Their faces fell as Mim said, "Aw, Mom! Come on! You were doing stuff way more dangerous that this when you were fourteen! Even Aunt Jos has! We'll stay inside in the Sunhawk!"

"No, Mim, not this time.", she said, shaking her head, "It's bad enough trying to fly through that weather as it is. The last thing I need is to find out the bird with my girls on it crashed! You wouldn't last two hours out there in that freezing weather!"

K-J snorted, looking annoyed, "Are you kidding? With the way you and Dad have trained us in Arctic survival? Mom, I would think that the daughters of the 'great' Kim Possible would do better than that! You _know_ we could easily survive that kind of crash _even_ in blizzard conditions like this. After all, even _you_ said we can do..."

"Yes, I know!", Kim interrupted, mildly vexed, "You can do anything! But not while your mother says otherwise, you hear me?"

K-J and Mim both growled their frustration, but did not argue further.

"Now have you finished your homework?"

"Yes, Mom.", they said together, sullenly.

"But tomorrow is going to be a snow day...", said K-J.

"...and we probably won't have to turn it in until we get back to school...", added Mim.

"...and we'll bet that won't be for at least a week.", K-J finished.

Kim shook her head, and sighed. The girls finished each other's thoughts even worse than her own brothers did.

"Finish your chores?", she asked.

"Uh, everything except doing the dishes...", K-J said.

"...and getting the laundry out of the dryer and folding it.", Mim finished.

"That's fine. Since I agree you _will_ be snowed in tomorrow, that can keep until the morning. Eaten dinner?"

"Sure thing, Mom.", they piped up simultaneously.

"Okay, go on to bed then. Your father and I should be home soon."

"Okay, Mom.", they said, still dejected.

"But, Mom! When?", added K-J.

Kim sighed and gave her daughter a lopsided smile, "It won't be long, honey. I promise you that. But it's got to be the right mission."

"Yeah.", complained Mim, muttering with a long face, "Probably won't be until we're thirty, married and with kids of our own."

'And don't think I haven't considered it!', Kim thought to herself, but not saying it, 'God! I am _so_ my father with these two. I never thought I would do that.'

Instead, she smiled and replied, "Where are your brothers?"

"They haven't got home from their dates, yet." Mim said sarcastically, then laughed and added, "Not that I would expect them so soon. You know how googly-eyed they get every time they even look at the Thompson twins."

"Not to mention turning into brainless drooling male drones!", K-J added with a giggle.

Kim couldn't help but smirk, remembering how her brothers made similar comments on her dating life in high school, and how she got in her own shots when they went through the same phase. Nonetheless, she did gently reprimand them.

"Stop that, you two. You'll regret it when you do start dating and your brothers return the favor."

K-J piped in, "Which _still_ won't matter since according to Dad..."

"...it won't happen until we're...", continued Mim.

"...thirty!", Kim finished with them, then sighed in exasperation, "Yes, I know! Don't worry about it. I'll talk to your father when the time is right, but not until you're sixteen!"

"Awww. Mom!"

Kim frowned slightly, "Now, don't 'aw Mom' me! We've had this discussion. K-J. I know you've been crushing on that blond boy who's chairman of the science club. And I know you got it bad for the JV quarterback, Mim. You can both wait until you're old enough and your father and I have met them both, and if you're still interested. Then we'll see."

"Yeah, if Dad doesn't tell Grandpa to send them on a one way trip to a black hole.", K-J muttered somberly.

Kim shook her head and chuckled, "Go to bed, you two. We'll be home soon."

The girls looked at her morosely as they clicked the Kimmunicator off and the screen blanked to black. Kim kept laughing to herself, still shaking her head. She tapped the screen again on the icon tray across the bottom, It changed over to a new face filling the screen, this one of a young blond man.

She smiled again, admiring the face of her oldest son.

"Hi, Jim.", she said, "When are you going to get in? The weather is really getting bad out there."

"Yeah, I know, Mom. Tim and I already dropped our dates off at their house. We're five minutes from home."

Tim leaned into the view screen and waved with a smile, "Hi, Mom!"

Kim replied, still smiling, "Hi, son. Okay, you two. The girls should be in bed when you get home. Don't disturb them."

'Oh, we won't, Mom.", Tim said pointedly, his face a little sour at that prospect " Last thing we need is them giving us their '_looooove_' advice."

"Got that right!", said Jim, "Boy! I can't wait until they start dating. We're going to have so much fun!"

"Well, not if Dad has his way.", replied Tim, snickering, "You know, black hole deep and all that."

"Boys!", interrupted Kim, "I've already had this conversation! So zip it, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, mom. Sorry.", they both chimed in, still snickering.

"Fine. Just get home soon."

"Almost there."

"Good, love you both. Out."

"You, too, Mom. Out."

And the screen went blank once more. She laughed to herself again, musing upon the antics of her children, glad she wasn't in the middle of it, and halfway dreading when she would be. But then the present problems intervened back into her consciousness and she strode out of her office and into the hallway headed for BATCC. Her office was located on the third floor underground level of the main complex. She took the elevator to the main floor, surface side, and transversed the connecting tunnel which led to the huge main indoor hangar located on the southern end of the main runway of the airfield. This huge structure was a square monster twelve hundred feet to a side and a hundred twenty feet high. Built below it were three levels of storage hangars where most of the aircraft in Team Possible's arsenal had been moved to ride out the storm. Certain craft, like the old C-130 transports that the Air Force had long ago phased out, but which were rebuilt and upgraded specifically for Team Possible's needs, had to be flown out to safer areas as they were too big.

After exiting the elevator, she made it into the main hangar in five minutes and headed directly for BATCC, a small building within the hangar which housed the backup air traffic control center. There was an elevator shaft that headed directly up through the roof of the hangar two hundred feet up into the main air traffic control tower that soared above the main airfield. The blizzard had severely limited visibility in the ATC tower, the high winds actually threatening to blow out some of the windows. As a standard precaution, control had been shifted down to BATCC. The OD looked up and saw her as she entered, and snapped to attention.

"Command on deck!"

The entire room stood up rapidly and came to attention, relaxing just as swiftly as Kim quickly called out "As you were!". She continued on to the central console without breaking stride. Everyone sat right back down and resumed their jobs, intently looking over multiple radar screens and checking computer readouts and monitors for weather information and air traffic. She gave the sudden flurry of activity caused by her entrance no further attention, although their doing that still bothered her some, even after all these years. They were all ex-military, or military on special assignment to learn the special anti-terror tactics developed by Team Possible, and they had insisted on observing military protocol out of sheer respect for the Commander, refusing to relent until she finally laid down the law to stop it. Every now then, though, one of the newer people rotating through to the team would pull the military protocol out, like her present OD. She hadn't broken him of it yet. It was well known that amongst the primary team that the comradery was informal and Kim did not stand on ceremony, but the rest of the organization was used to keeping military tradition alive, and she finally gave in and accepted that it was going to happen on occasion. Although all of the military branches had contributed officers to Team Possible, the traditions of the organization tended to follow naval terminology. Therefore, as head of of the entire group, there was a question as what rank she should assume. That rank was a little nebulous the first year out of high school. Some overzealous new recruit kept wanting to address her as "captain", but she nixed that quickly, saying the only thing of which she was ever the captain was a cheerleading squad. But they had to call her something, so she allowed them to give her the rank of "Commander", and so it was to the present time.

She quietly watched the main view screen, a large display which dominated the wall. Several other screens surrounded it, displaying various other readouts. Three screens were used to focus mainly on the Flight Traffic Map, and could focus on specific sectors for a closer look if desired. The FTM was also up on the main screen for closer inspection, showing eighteen bright red dots denoting the locations of the birds already in the air. Weather updates were displayed on another screen on the left. There was a bank of computer terminals and monitors sitting directly in front of the wall so that the air traffic control personnel could easily see both the wall screens and their individual monitors. The Radar Data Processing system held the center terminal position with the Flight Data Processing system to its right. Primary and Secondary Surveillance Radar were also to the left. Surface Movement Radar and the Precision Movement Radar were to the right of FDP. Presently, no one was sitting at those terminals. Both were turned off due to the weather conditions. To the left side of SSR was the Instrument Landing System, a crucial component for operations at times like this, and the NCO at the station was busy typing on his terminal and collating data for the birds to be able to return to base. To the other side were communications equipment and various other stations.

"Give me hangar visual", said the OD.

Instantly, a view of the Hangar popped on the main screen, replacing the FTM. They saw the last two Sunhawks preparing to get underway, personnel busily running around getting the last of their duties accomplished.

The intercom piped up, "Bat-see, Red Drake eight request permission for departure. Over."

Another voice filtered through, "Red Drake seven, request permission for departure. Over."

The OD stood still, watching with his arms crossed, Kim standing behind him. To her left the flight data officer spoke into a head set, "Roger, red drake eight, red drake seven. Stand by."

He switched his head set off and turned to a non-com sitting at a desk close by, "flight plan filed, right?"

The non-com looked up and replied, "Aye, sir. Signed and sealed."

"Ordnance?"

"Standard defensive protocol complete."

The FDO looked at the screen and grunted to himself, satisfied, then looked smugly at the OD and said, "Well, your job is easy today, isn't it?"

The OD, who also was supposed to serve as the GCO, smirked as he replied, "No sense in having a ground control officer in this weather, especially when they're flying straight out of the hangar."

"Yeah, put it all on the fido, woof, woof.", the FDO said.

"Well if you're going to act like a dog...", the OD replied, chuckling.

The FDO laughed and turned his headset back on, "red drake seven, red drake eight, you are cleared. Repeat, you are cleared for launch. Over."

"Roger, Bat-see. Red drake eight clear. Out."

"Roger. Red drake seven clear. Out."

They all watched the two VTOL craft lift up off the tarmac as the hangar doors, which had been opening for thirty seconds, finally reached full open position. It was impressive to watch the big birds take to the air. With a final roar, they inched forward, slowly building speed until they passed in single file over the threshold into the violent maelstrom of blinding white that poured in, the force of it pushing the craft backwards for a moment before the aircraft braced themselves and pressed back into the wind, finally defeating it and soaring out into the storm. As soon as they were gone, the doors began to close and the hangar became quiet again, the only sounds now coming from the clean up crews that went out to clear up the mess the storm brought in.

"Give me FTM.", said the OD.

The FTM returned to the main screen and two new red dots had appeared, slowly moving away from the center. The OD looked back at the FDO by the screen.

"How's it going, Murph?"

The FDO, a young tow headed officer to whom Kim had taken a liking, looked up at the FDP station near the map screen and said, "All clear, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary to report so far."

"No glitches on the strips?"

"None, sir."

"Huh, nothing ordinary about this weather.", muttered the OD, "Well, at least it'll be a little easier to coordinate since the search pattern is still within our TRACON area."

He turned to Kim and asked, "How about you, CAG? Are you looking to take Dragonrider for a stroll in the park tonight?"

Kim grinned back at him, remembering how her personal VTOL had gotten its name. Although she did not fly herself much anymore, she was still qualified to do so, and in the early days, she often did just that when it was new to her. Back then, as per tradition, her aircraft became Dragon zero zero, since the Commander always received the double zero designation, but in standard lingo this was often called "double nuts."

The conversation that followed the first time she heard that twenty years ago still amused her.

* * *

Kim was at the controls of the Osprey, starting the huge engines and running her checklist down. It was still so thrilling for her to do this, having only received her credentials for flying the big bird a few months back. She silently thanked Shego once more, who had been a great help when Kim decided to learn how to fly and had volunteered to teach her the basics in the Go-Jet. It didn't take long, After all, she had demonstrated that when she rescued Ron and Frederick from Monkey Fist's grasp in the space station. She could very quickly pick up on the basics of flying an aircraft. Her copilot, an air force captain on special assignment to Team Possible, was busy assisting her as the tower called in.

"Dragon zero-zero, this is At-see. What's your status?"

"Starting engines now. Check list almost complete.", replied the copilot, "Should be ready in five."

"Roger, double-nuts, tower out."

Kim looked up, a queer expression on her face. Staring at the copilot, she asked, "Double-nuts?"

He looked back at her innocently, "Oh, yes ma'am. You didn't know? As the Commander your designation is always zero-zero."

"Well, yes, I know that."

"You know.", he grinned, "Two goose eggs or double-..."

His face blanched a bit as he realized what he was saying, and to whom he was saying it.

"Double-nuts.", Kim finished for him, "as in those... ...double-nuts?"

"Uh, yes ma'am. That's right.", he stuttered, his face now quite red, "It's tradition."

'Uh-huh.", Kim said with a slight scowl and a raised eyebrow, "Not exactly my first choice of a code designation."

"Well, ma'am.", he replied, "I guess you could always change it, if you wanted."

"I think you can count on that, captain.", she said, before returning her attention to the tasks at hand.

She quickly finished the checklist and proceeded on with her flight. After she landed, she issued an order changing her code designation to Dragonrider, noting that the designation of "double-nuts" was probably not the best one for her, especially since she didn't have any. That caused more than a few good laughs around the base.

* * *

She chuckled a moment before answering, "Not this time, lieutenant. I haven't flown this type of weather in a long time. Let's let the regular flyboys do the job they're meant to do. I'll hitch a ride on the bird that locates the target."

"Aye aye, ma'am.", the OD said with a smile, "Anything more?"

"No, the main thing I wanted to do is check out how the new FlyteTrax software is doing. Any glitches?"

"No ma'am. They seemed to have fixed that bug they had with the last version. Sure was annoying."

The previous version of the flight tracking software from Flyte Comm had inexplicably and randomly started to eliminate the data from flight progress strips and fill them with gibberish whenever the flights were handed over from one air traffic control system command center to another. It was erratic and random, and rarely happened, but when it did it was really aggravating and troublesome to fix. After making sure the ARTCC's themselves were not the problem, they were finally able to track the bug down in the software.

"Good. Ron had to really pull some strings to get those patches done so quickly for us."

"It's a good thing Monkey One is so good with the numbers, Ma'am."

"Got that right, lieutenant.", she replied, grinning.

Kim didn't know how Ron got that call sign, and though she never found out, she couldn't help thinking it was really his idea from the beginning. He always denied it. She looked around the room one more time, wishing something more was forthcoming from the search, but she could see this was going to be a long waiting game. There was nothing more for her to do here and she had other things to attend, including getting home and checking on the kids. Thank heaven she had brought the new Sloth to work today. At version 8.3, it was a far cry from the original her father had gifted her in her senior year at high school. But the quality of that vehicle was telling in that the old car she first drove was still in service, only now it was her sons who drove it.

She started out of the BATCC and replied, "Carry on, lieutenant"

"Aye, aye, ma'am.", he replied.

She crossed the hangar back into the hall that led to the operations center, going back to her office, trying to remember all the little things left on her 'to do' list for the day, making sure they had been done. She ran down it mentally, noting that the only thing left was to make sure she and Ron checked on Rufus when they got home. The mole rat had been getting pretty arthritic lately in his old age.

Then she thought, 'Speaking of which, where is Ron?'

* * *

The room was dark, barely lit by the two candles in the back. Dead still, quiet, nothing moved except for the barely noticeable breathing of the lone occupant of the room, sitting on a tatami mat in a white gi. His head was bowed, eyes closed, legs crossed in lotus position. His shock of blond hair was still hard to control even now, just as it was when he was growing up. It reflected the light with a soft glow, gently outlining the hint of white appearing at his temples. There was a time he had freckles, but those had faded long ago, although if you looked close you could still see them.

Ron Stoppable, former teenage outcast and clumsy sidekick to the noted teen hero Kim Possible, had over the years graduated to being a master of Tai Shing Peck Kwar, president of Bueno Nacho Incorporated and CFO of Team Possible, but most importantly to him, Kim's husband and father to their four children. Still, the other feats were impressive enough accomplishments, even to Shego who still kidded him about how he had done "pretty good for a sidekick buffoon". Of course, she was the only one who could ever call him that in Kim's hearing, as it was now a term used affectionately by Kim's ex-nemesis, much as she still called Kim "Princess". He had definitely gotten a little better than that, though sometimes Kim would wonder about that with some of his persistent "child-like wonder" ideas he would get, as she still called them. Yet, it was being Kim's husband which truly had real meaning to him. His mind dwelled easily upon those thoughts, but it was not what he needed to do right now. He put them aside and concentrated again on the task at hand, one that recently had gotten harder every day he tried it.

He slowed his breathing down, shutting out the physical world, his entire attention focused deep within. Soon, the time stream became apparent to his senses once more. The threads of the future played before him as they always did, a blur of swirling colors and images that he couldn't discern well, even now, and he was no longer a green amateur. So many years ago, it had been such a surprise when he finally realized the gift the Monkey of the Great Trine had given him. Sensei realized it before he did, when he told the old master what had happened with those three great beings he and Kim had met in that far off dimension. At Sensei's urging he meditated again, and just as was suspected, he could finally see the Time Stream for what it was. Before, when Sensei urged him to meditate for the visions, he barely could see an occasional scene from a blur. There was too little information.

Now there was too much. He had to separate the different threads out properly to understand any of it. Wade would have called them 'Time Lines" or sometimes "Alternate Realities". They still looked like cloth thread to him when he viewed them in their unexpanded form, roiling and thrashing within the great river of energy and existence that defied and fought his analysis at every turn, even after twenty-four years. Nonetheless, Sensei had been hugely pleased. It had taken him thirty years to be able to gain access to the Time Stream with that kind of accuracy in reading the visions. Ron did it in two, and had surpassed his skill since then. But it was still supremely difficult most of the time. It seemed Fate continued to play with him like a cat plays with a mouse before being eaten.

He persevered. This was too crucial a time, the circumstances too important to ignore or put off. Ever since they realized a month earlier that Drakken was free, he had spent almost every night since then trying to get a glimpse from the Time Stream, trying to get a vision of the future or near future which would give them some clue as to his whereabouts and his plans, and each night he had failed miserably. Feeling like a novice again, he missed Sensei even more now, wishing he still had his support and advice. But something was interfering with his access to the Time Stream. He knew it, could feel it, but couldn't figure out what. So many nights he would go home to bed, disappointed and depressed. It sure helped that Kim was always there to soothe his bruised spirit with a good massage to work out his tired muscles, followed by a long soulful embrace.

Once more Ron Stoppable stared into that swirling mass of movement and hues, trying to pick out an image here or there, striving to understand what was happening, when a particular thread began to emerge from the center. He mentally frowned, annoyed that it was another one of those little threads that would wave around, try to expand, and then just wink out back into the river as if playing a practical joke on him. The strand shifted here, then there, back and forth, occasionally trying to open and spread out before him, but still teasing and unrevealing. The best he could get was a hint of bluish color, possibly of the sky. He tried to focus harder on it.

The thread kept dancing around with his consciousness, almost taunting him as he tried to telepathically grab hold of it with his mental hands. He grasped at it here, then there, clumsily always missing. It seemed about to completely dissolve away when the thread seemed to stop dead still, and he was surprised when he was able to pin it with his psychic mitts, crude as there were. Held down like that, it strained and wrenched itself, trying to get free. But in doing so, it fully emerged from the stream and unwound, spreading out into a panel of bluish color. An image emerged from it, straightening out into something recognizable, one coherent frame from what seemed to be a million pixelated moments of whirling confusion. It retreated away and shimmered. Surprised, Ron mentally gasped and concentrated harder, trying to stabilize the vision by pure thought. Then the vision showed itself. He saw a room come into view.

The scene enlarged, coming closer, centering on a large dark brown, high backed chair facing a television screen. The flat panel looked a little dated, but clearly showed some sort of news channel that was current. The sound was muffled, so he couldn't recognize what was being said. The view was of the back of the chair, so he couldn't see who was sitting in it, but he could sense someone was there. Slowly the point of view shifted around to one side and he saw a figure reclining in the chair, eyes closed, his fingers steepled underneath his chin as he frowned in deep thought. Ron let out a gasp.

It was Drakken.

Concentrating as hard as he could, Ron maintained the hold on the image as a beautiful young woman came up from behind the chair and reached down over the back of it, starting to massage his temples. Drakken smiled and relaxed his face, keeping his eyes closed, still deep in thought.

"Ahhh. Yes, yes.", Drakken said contentedly, "That feels _so_ good, Bebe. Uh, just a little down from there on the left. Yes. Oh, yes, that's it."

The figures were now easily recognizable now. Drakken's blue skin was unmistakable, as was the woman's distinctive metallic form. At first, Ron thought she might be real, but then he could see the differences. It was indeed a BebeBot, but one that was far better than he had ever seen before. Drakken was definitely older. His hair had a long white streak through his hair. The white also peppered through into the rest of his black locks framing that familiar blue face which was now much more lined, thinner, and quite a bit more weathered. The voices cut through clearly.

"Anything for my Drew, honey.", the Bebe Bot said in a mothering way.

"Have you seen little Drewbie, Bebe?", said Drakken, irritated, "He's been skulking off again, hasn't he?"

"Boys will be boys, you know.", the bebebot soothed, "And you really shouldn't call him that. It vexes him so."

Ron blinked his mental eyes and thought, 'little Drewbie?'

Drakken smiled malevolently.

"Well, I had to suffer through it.", he said darkly, "It's his turn now."

Ron regarded the robot closely. He was impressed with how it could act so human now, even having facial expressions.

"He's young.", said the BebeBot.

"Hmmm, yes.", Drakken continued, "But still I don't like that he's not here. He's been seeing some floozy, I tell you! I won't stand for it!"

"But Drew, he needs to find a nice girl and settle down.", the robot said in a rich sultry voice, though it still had a very slight metallic tone.

"No! It's bad enough his father turned out to be such a disappointment. But my grandnephew will not disappoint the family name!"

The robot tut-tutted him, "Now Drew, you know your blood pressure gets elevated when you get upset. The doctor told you to take it easy."

"Drat the doctor!", Drakken cursed, "Fifteen years since I escaped, and not once! Not once have I been able to do anything to gain my revenge! Not once have I been able to use my genius and create an invincible doomsday device or unbeatable plan for world domination! Oh, if only Shego were here, and evil again."

'Thank Heaven that won't happen.', thought Ron as he watched.

"But I thought that's because it's your grandnephew who will take over the world, to continue the Lipsky family tradition.", the robot said.

"Yesss.", Drakken replied grudgingly, "I must stay out of the limelight and train him for that role now. She must not know, yet, of my greatest plan ever! He is the one now who must carry on the family name...

" ...and in time, in time, I will make her pay.", he hissed malevolently.

A very evil grin appeared and he chuckled harshly, "Not even Kim Possible will be able to stop him, especially since she doesn't know who he really is."

A soft beeping started to sound from the image. Ron couldn't immediately tell from where until Drakken sat bolt upright in the chair, punching a button on a control panel on the arm.

"What!", he yelled.

A voice filtered out, but Ron could not make it out. After a moment, Drakken answered it.

"Well, it's about time you got back!", he cried, "You know we have work to... What? Temporal energies? What are you talking about? Oh, very well! Do it!"

Drakken slammed the control button off and leaned back into his recliner, an angry look on his face.

"Trouble?", asked the Bebe.

"Nothing 'Drewbie' says he can't take care of.", Drakken grumbled, "He thinks we're being observed."

Suddenly, the image began to swirl as Drakken spoke again, but the noise drowned his voice out.

'No!', thought Ron frantically, ' not when I've gotten so close! Not now!

He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to hold on to it, but it was no use. The image fractured and split into a million particles of color that swirled like confetti in a strong wind. It was quickly absorbed back into the Time Stream which roiled and pulsated lazily, as if laughing at him. He found himself feeling suddenly quite tired, having trouble just even seeing the stream itself. It eroded further and all too quickly fractured into darkness.

He came out of the trance, breathing heavily. Sitting in Lotus position in the training room, sweat running down his facw, the exhaustion quickly took him. Meditating for the visions always did this to him. In the past, he had to let Sensei do the majority of this work, as he was much better at conserving his energy. But ever since his passing, Ron had to take up the slack. He just hadn't learned how to conserve his energy as well as the old master. Ron tried to meditate for his visions at least once a week to keep in practice. But doing it every day for the last month was taking its toll. This time however, this time, he had success! And it was the most informative one he'd had since he started. It was interesting, albeit annoying, that he never had one interrupted like this, as if intentionally by some outside force. Something had definitely disturbed him out of it prematurely. Regaining his bearing, he looked around and saw Kim standing at the doorway of the main training floor looking at him, worried. He realized she had been calling his name, but he hadn't answered.

"Ron?", she called again, "Are you okay? Did I disturb you?"

Ron shook his head lazily and sighed, "No it's okay, KP. I was just about finished anyway."

Slowly he unwound his body and stood up as Kim approached. He shook his limbs out and stretched them along with his neck to get the kinks out.

"Any luck?", she asked.

He smiled, "You could say that. I finally saw him."

Kim gasped, her eyes wide, "What! Where is he? How far in the future? What's he doing?"

'Hold on, K.P.", he said, still grinning, "What I heard and saw came from the very near future from what I could sense, maybe even the present. What I can tell you is he's been out about fifteen years."

Kim frowned, still looking surprised, "What? Fifteen years? Then what has he been doing? Why haven't we heard of him trying some plot to take over the world?"

"From what I could tell, Kim, he's retired."

"Huh?", Kim said, totally perplexed, "Now that is _so_ not the Drakken I know! I don't get it. What else would he do except try and take over the world?"

"Groom a successor for the same job?"

She blinked thoughtfully at him, "Okaaay. Who?"

"His grandnephew."

"Grandnephew? I didn't even know he had a brother."

"Well it might be a sister, you know. I really didn't get that."

"Ron! In the moment, please?"

"Yeah, okay. I guess that's not important. Oh, by the way, he's building better robot girls too now."

Kim growled at him. 'Ron, please! On subject here! Who's the grandnephew?"

"Sorry, honey, didn't catch that, except that his name's also 'Drew'. But Drakken did say that there was something special about him that you don't know."

"What do you mean, Ron?"

"Didn't hear, KP, but it didn't sound like a good thing."

"It never does", she said sullenly.

"The BebeBots looked really good though."

"Uh-huh, still_ so_ not the problem.", she said, perturbed

"I dunno. They looked pretty slick to me."

"Can they fight?"

"Don't know."

"Then it's not a problem right now."

"Maybe. But I still wonder about that last thing he said, that we really wouldn't know who the grandnephew really is."

"Well, I know the perfect person to find out.", she replied, holding her arm up and talking into her wrist Kimmunicator. The command words automatically activated it and Wade's face appeared on the small wristwatch sized screen.

"Wade. I got a job for you."

Quickly she told him what Ron had learned about Drakken and gave him the job of trying to find him and to find out just who Drakken's grandnephew seemed to be. Wade said he would get right on it. Kim shut down the Kimmuicator.

"Okay.", she said turing back to Ron, "One problem getting solved. Now to the more immediate problem. Jill."

"Yeah. Sorry, Kim. I tried to meditate on finding her, too. No luck."

Kim growled softly, "I guess we do it the old fashioned way. You ready to go?"

"Uh, Kim, the girls wanted to go out on this one, but I told them to ask you."

"I know, Ron. They did ask. I still feel it's too dangerous. How do you feel about it?"

Ron was silent for a moment as he thought, "I don't know, Kim. You may be right. Let's see how bad the storm gets, then we can reconsider. I have my doubts right now only because I don't know how crazy this blizzard will be. But you know, this really would be the best kind of mission to get their feet wet."

She frowned slightly, still unconvinced, "Maybe. I'm still never going to be comfortable with it."

He chuckled, "Like you never were with Jos?"

She shot him an irritated glare.

"That's a low blow, loverboy.", she said with slitted eyes.

"But oh, so true.", he said, still grinning.

'Hey, I eventually came around.", she conceded grudgingly.

Her face was still hard with that frown, as he wrapped his arms around her, "I know, but you had to be forced into it. Eventually, you are going to have to let go, Kim."

Kim's face screwed up into a mixture of discomfort and bother. Her bluster melted away as she responded, turning in his arms and putting her arms around him as well.

"I know, Ron. It's just... ...you know."

He smiled and said, "It's okay. We'll find a way through it."

Then he kissed her, making her smile as their lips parted.

"Hmmm. ", she sighed in satisfaction, "I knew there was a good reason I married you."

"Booyah, girl."

"Ready to go home?"

"Yeah. I guess they'll call us if and when the birds find anything."

"Got that right.", she said with a feral look on her face, " Now, about that reason I married you."

Embracing her tightly, he gave her a lopsided grin and a purr. "_Rraaaawwllll_!. Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Her eyes widened slightly, in mild surprise, "Not here! Ron! Let's go home."

"Uh, the kids?"

She kissed him again, more sensuously, as she took his hand and led him out of the room.

"They'll be asleep by the time we get there.", she said coyly.

* * *

**The next chapter should be up in a day or two... ...I hope... we'll see. Being a web site administrator does take up your time at moments...**


	3. An Unexpected Refuge

**Author's Note: Here there will be the introduction of a new and central character to this story, and rather unexpected. There are refuges... ...and there are refuges...**

**An Unexpected Refuge**

She could barely see through her tears. By the time she even thought about anything else beside the pain in her heart, she suddenly noticed how bad the snow flurries were caking up on the windshield, and how hard it was to visualize the road. Yet, even with these omnious signs, Jill didn't respond. She couldn't. The imminent danger was becoming apparent, but it just wouldn't register in ehr mind. She had no idea where she was headed, and couldn't have cared less. All that mattered was what had happened.

Jeff had betrayed her, destroyed everything. Her world had collapsed. Nothing had any important anymore, nothing. All she could think about was getting in the car and driving, driving away, away from him, away from everything.

Their last argument kept reverberating through her skull, refusing to stop, the words repeatedly echoing in her mind's ear. And it wasn't the words so much, but the change in his manner, how suddenly he viciously turned on her, trashing her in front of his friends like that, demeaning her, telling her what a prude she was simply because she wouldn't 'do it'. How could he have done that? How could he have debased her so cruelly, subjected her to such inhumane humiliation in front of everyone there, after all the times she told how much she loved him, and even worse after all the times he said he loved her too? What did she do so wrong that made him reject her like this?

She was numb, her environement completely alien to her now, nothing like before. It had been so wonderful in the beginning, but then he got so pushy, wanting to get physical. At first, he would accept her rebuffs, agreeing with her that she wasn't ready for that sort of thing, but then it got harder and harder, finally getting to the point where she had to shout him down, pushing him off her to get him to stop. Even with this, he only tolerated it for a while before he retaliated, refusing to accept her reasons for denying him what he thought she should give him, arguing that she didn't respect him enough or love him enough. She kept wondering if things would have been better if she had just given in. Yet, something in the back of her mind said it would have only made it worse. It didn't matter any more. She was no longer sure of anything now except the intense pain and heartbreak she felt, and the surety that nothing had value to her now, least of all herself.

Sobbing intermittently, she drove the car she wasn't allowed legally to drive alone down a highway she didn't know, somehow headed for the mountains due west of Middleton, where there was nowhere for her to go. But at some point, she didn't know when, she finally became uncomfortable enough with the unfamiliar surroundings to comprehend the danger of what was happening outside the car. When she did, she couldn't remember how she got onto that particular road in the first place. She tried to pick out a familiar landmark, but there was nothing. There wasn't much of anything out there. All she knew was she had gone west, towards the mountains where the elevation climbed steeply, a direction in which she had never been before, at least this far out from town. She had no idea how far she had gotten outside the city limits, but she was definitely in the deep countryside now. Making things worse, the sun had set thirty minutes before and the dark was setting in quickly. There were no street lights anywhere.

As the dusk finally settled in, it became nearly impossible to see the roadway through the blinding snow. This was enough to bring Jill out of her lovesick stupor and finally make her take some action. She slowed down and tried to look through the swiftly oscillating wiper blades, unable to see anything for certain, intermittently looking behind behind her as well. She had to stop to try and get her bearings. There were no cars coming from either direction. In fact it hit her that she hadn't seen another car since sunset. Grimacing, she looked back down the road, then forward, then back again, continually glancing back and forth for awhile, hoping that by some miracle someone would come along who might be able to help her. But after ten minutes of this, it became clear that anyone who had any sense was smart enough to stay off the roads.

Fear chilled her soul. She knew her only option was to try and get back home, or least find shelter on the way back. Gradually, she turned the car around with a modified K-turn and headed it back down the way she had come. All she could think of now was getting back home. She knew her mother was going to kill her for this, for sure, but she would face that whenever it happened. By now, the blizzard had set in fully and visibility was virtually nothing. She kept following what traces of the road she could see, or thought she could see.

She shrieked as the car suddenly fell off to one side, crashing as she accidently drove it off the road into a side ditch. A crunching noise came from the bottom of the car and it died. Her stomach lurching to the bottom of her gut, Jill froze until she was sure the car wasn't moving anymore, then tried to restart it. Unlike an internal combustion engine, there was no ignition switch. The fuel cell driven electric motor had an automatic cutoff of the power to the electric motor when accidents like this happened so she had to turn the power plant back on. She pressed the start buttom to transfer power to the motor, which started to whine like it should, but when she tried to engage the drive, the car wouldn't go and it started to make a hissing sound she had never heard before. She kept trying to shift the car into park and back into drive without success. After a few tries of this, she collapsed into her seat in frustration. The hissing sound kept going.

'Oh, damnit!', she thought, castigating herself, 'I was stupid enough not to bring my com with me. At least there's the On-Star.'

She reached up to the roof to activate the unit, and stopped short. The light was off.

'That's not right', she thought, the sick feeling starting to overtake her again.

She flicked the switch on it and saw the unit still was unresponsive. She flicked it again back and forth, harder and harder, trying to get something out of it, then stopped as she heard the hissing noise get louder. A plume of smoke erupted from the dashboard. Eyes wide in shock, she stared in terror as flames appeared out from beneath the dash.

"Oh, my God!", she muttered, "A fuel leak? This isn't supposed to happen! Oh, my God!"

Frantically, she undid her seat belt and opened the door. She half stepped, half fell out into the snow as the hydrogen fueled burst of flame filled the cabin of the car with a soft roar. Scrambling on all fours, she scooted away through the snow as the vehicle was quickly enveloped in a fireball that roared upwards into the night sky, illuminating the immediate area like a small sun.

The wind howled around her as she looked on in terror at the ruined car, looking around for some protection from the cold. She had dressed fairly warmly, jeans and sweater with a light coat, but she didn't expect a full blizzard hitting town. What she had on now wouldn't protect her much against the snapping cold of the gale force wind and massive snow fall sucking the warmth away everywhere it touched her. As she stood there, watching the inferno, she glanced side to side, eyes wide open in unabated terror, finally understanding she might not survivie this.

"I'm sorry, Mama!", she cried to herself, realizing the danger she was in, "Oh, God! I'm sorry!"

Fearing an explosion, she half-ran, half-stumbled back down the road for at least a third of a mile. After only half that distance, she could no longer see the fire due to the strength of the blizzard's full force. She slowed down to a walk and pulled up the hoodie of her coat, trying to cover herself up as much as she could against the snow beating against her from the hellish north wind. She kept heading east, hoping there was some type of habitation nearby she had missed seeing. She slogged steadily through the snow, her boots crunching through the white crust onto the road beneath a foot of white powder. She thought she could keep this up for a little awhile. But even with a cheerleader's stamina, there was no way for her to know if it would be enough. Nobody knew where she was now, and she had no way to contact them. She had no choice but to keep going and hope she found somebody or something to help her, and soon.

She pushed strongly through the rapidly crusting snow, making good time, but the fierceness of the blizzard soon made it a struggle just to walk. Her determination flagged, overwhelmed with the enormity of the task she faced. She thought she might have gone about a mile when she broke down against a tree, crying, frantically afraid she would never see her family again. But she realized there was nothing for it, nothing else to do. Half from fear, and half because there was no other option, she got back up and started trudging towards the east again. Each step turned into a monotonous routine. Pick up and crunch down. Pick up and crunch down. She lost all sense of time. She only knew that she had to keep stepping forward, even though at moments she forgot why. Sometimes she stumbled and fell into the chilling snow, numbing her hands and face. Each time she slowly got back up and went on. The feeling in her toes and fingers disappeared. She didn't mind so much since there wasn't any pain any more. Her jeans and sweater became wet from all the snow melting against her skin, which caused her more problems in dealing with the cold and making them soggy, weighing her down. Her muscles ached painfully. She finally pulled herself up and huddled against a tree, sobbing, sure she could go no further. Not knowing what to do or where to go, she stared into the vast whiteness, the tears freezing on her cheeks before they could fall off. A noise coming through on the wind. At first she wasn't sure, suspecting she was hallucinating, but then it came again. It sounded real and she strained to see into the white blindness of the storm.

Hoping it was a car or a snow plow, she struggled back up onto her feet, trying to shield her eyes against the blowing razor-like flakes. The noise grew a little stronger. She was surprised. It wasn't a vehicle, but a voice. She shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind from the haze of cold and weakness that had already stolen into her body, noy believing it at first, but still there was the sound of that voice, as if calling to her from a very long distance away. She couldn't make out any words, but it did come from across the road. She looked around, trying to locate it, wondering what the heck somebody else would be doing out here in this weather. She detected nothing in the furiously blowing snow until a slight movement caught her eye. Hungrily she gazed hard, trying to make it out, and gradually a form appeared in the snow. Someone was there at the shoulder.

Like a shadow, barely visible in the blizzard, an old man stood next to a tree on the other side of the road. He was well dressed in a black leather jacket with a sheepskin collar, silver hair blowing in the gale force wind. The cold didn't sem to affect him at all, adn he moved like someone half his age. He had a small white moustache which was neatly trimmed. He raised his hand and beckoned towards her.

Fish-eyed, she stared at him and yelled, "Mister? Mister? Do you live near here? Mister-?"

The man didn't answer her. He just smiled and waved to her to follow. He turned and melted into the snow drifts past the tree. Galvanized by the thought of safety, and especially of not losing sight of him, Jill forced her muscles to react quickly, painfully complaining to her as she did it, and jerked her body away from the tree, crossing the road.

"Wait! Don't leave me! Mister! Please wait!"

In a drunken-like stumble, she trudged across the highway after him. When she got through the tree line, she scanned beyond it hurriedly and managed to see him just disappearing around an large oak about fifty yards away. Struggling onward, she pushed through until she reached the oak. Again, she looked around, and to her relief saw a decrepit old shack sitting about twenty yards off, well hidden from the road by the trees. 'Oh, God!', she thought, 'I'm safe!' Thoroughly weakened, Jill could barely stand, but somehow she floundered towards the shack, seeing the man standing there on the steps going up to the door. The entry had been cleared away from the snow drifts that were rapidly building up around its sides, and there was a low light glinting through the one window. A small plume of smoke emitted from the short chimney. But she was spent. She could feel her consciousness going as she struggled on, her hands reaching out, trying to grab into the man, and as she approached him, he smiled widely, his face kept getting bigger until it seemed to envelop her entire consciousness just before she passed out cold.

* * *

Jill awoke with her hands and feet on fire.

Groggily she opened her eyes and found herself staring into a small fireplace, a strong blaze burning steadily there. She was on her side, wrapped in a blanket, which by its odor of stale liquor had needed washing a long time ago. Her head rested on a rather unpleasantly smelling rancid, dirty pillow, with an old bare mattress underneath her, looking threadbare, stained, and worn, all in need of being thrown out. She tried to move and found there was a heavy weight blocking her from the back. Someone's arm was over her. A strong smell of alcohol permeated through the air and reached her from a heavy snore that came from that weight. Alarmed, she wrenched her head around to find herself in the embrace of a large, bushy haired, heavily bearded man sleeping behind her, his face but an inch from hers.

Jill screeched shrilly and fought to get away from the man holding her, quickly breaking his grasp and struggling away to the far side of the room. As she did the blanket fell away and she was horrified to find herself without a stitch of clothing on. Screaming again, she quickly picked the blanket back up and wrapped it around herself, scrambling as far away as she could as the man woke up startled and sat there with wide eyes, staring at her.

She continued to scream out in pure fear as he got up, until he shocked her into silence when he screamed back at her.

"Will you shut the _hell _up! Damn it!", he yelled, "You're giving me one hell of a headache!"

"_What did you do to me_?", she bellowed at him.

"_Not a damn thing_!", he riposted even louder.

"_Where are my clothes_? _Why did you strip me_?"

"_They're hanging over the fireplace_! _And because you could have died if I didn't_!... ...Damnation!... ...My head hurts!"

Instantly, she became quiet and still as he shakily got up and staggered to a table on the other end of the shack. Looking groggy, he grabbed a bottle sitting on it and took a long swig. Then he slammed it down, sighing hard, wiping his chin with his sleeve. Since he wasn't immediately threatening her, Jill remained as calm and still as she could for the moment, frozen in place where she was, her back against the far wall of the room while she gazed at him with terror in her eyes. The man took a deep breath as he leaned on the table and looked back up at her.

From under hooded eyelids, he stared hard, speaking in an steady monotone.

"Listen to me.", he said calmly, "You could have died. When you slammed onto my front door, you were lucky I was even conscious enough to hear someone was even there. You were suffering from hypothermia. Your clothes were soaked. I had to get them off of you to get you warmed up. And the best way to warm you up was with my own body heat, such as it is. If it's any consolation to you, I put the blanket over you before I took off your underwear."

"Why should I believe you?", she spat back, "How do I know you didn't."

"_I don't give a hoot in hell if you believe me, kiddo_!", he roared back at her, "_And truth be told, I'm old enough to be your father_! Jail bait's not my style!"

Silenced by the outburst, Jill froze again, confused and frightened to death. Her eyes darted around the small room, searching for some way out or away, but there was nothing she could find aside from the one door to the place, and the man was closer to it than she was. She remembered then, just before she passed out, there was a shack the older man was leading her towards. She realized this was the shack, with only this one room. So, there was nowhere to go except out into the storm again. She looked at the fireplace to a rope that had been strung up above it. All of her clothes were there, her boots by the hearth as well.

Seeing her looking at them, the man said, "They should be dry by now. You can put them back on."

Jill looked at him contemptuously. Forcing herself to breathe slowly, She steadied herself, taking stock of the situation. She could sense her own body, and it seemed he told the truth. She was certain she had not been touched. She breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for that. But she was not about to let him dictate terms if she could help it.

"Well", she said slowly, cautiously, "I need privacy to do that. You'll have to go outside."

The man's cocked an eyebrow at her in surprise and smirked.

"Kiddo, it's already twenty below out there.", he said with an amused tone, "And that doesn't count the wind chill factor, So there's no way that's going to happen. You'll just have to do with me turning my head."

He chuckled to himself as he sat down heavily in a chair by the table, facing away from her. Propping his elbow on the table, he laid his head in his hand and waited.

'Jeez.', she thought, 'So much for that idea.'

Looking at the back of his head, Jill saw there wasn't much choice. She gingerly walked over to the improvised laundry line and took her clothing down. She still didn't trust him, so she kept the blanket draped over her while she put her underwear back on, then her jeans. The sweater was another matter. She was forced to put the blanket down for that. She did it as quickly as possible. Once her sweater was pulled down into place, she freed her hair from the heavy wool top and ran her fingers through it, trying to make something manageable of it. Nothing short of a good washing and a brush was going to do that, but she did the best she could. True to his word though, the man didn't budge. It all took more time than she thought it would as her fingers and toes still felt on fire, making it hard to handle the buttons.

"Done yet?", he asked.

"Yeah.", she answered warily, "My fingers and toes still burn though."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah, it means your nerves aren't damaged, and there's no permanent frostbite. But it wouldn't hurt to keep them warm."

"Uhhh, Okay."

He got up and glanced at her, nodding and saying, "Okay, you look better. Now grab me those pots over there."

He pointed to a chaotic pile of steel cooking ware in a wooden rack next to the fireplace. He had indicated a couple of good sized ones. As she got them for him, he went over to the hearth where there was a larger pot hanging over the fire. Water was boiling in it. He pulled this pot out on a spit that swung out from the fireplace and dipped both of the smaller pots Jill had procured into it, half filling them. Then he pushed the larger pot back on the spit into the fire. Grabbing a large plastic bowl, he went to the front door and cracked it open. The blizzard invaded the small shack viciously, threatening to blow away all the warmth that was there. Jill turned away and wrapped her arms around herself. The man quickly finished what he was doing and closed the door again, allowing the fire's warmth to spread out again and fill the room.

Carefully doling out the snow he had gathered, he cooled down the boiling water until it was about body temperature or a bit warmer. Then he dumped the rest of the snow in the pot on the fire. He grabbed the two pots of water and placed one on the floor in front of the chair, and the other on the table.

"Come here and sit down.", he said.

Cautiouly, she inched forward. He made no move towards her, nor assumed any kind of threatening posture as she took the chair.

"Now, roll up your pants legs and put your feet in the water, and your hands in the pot on the table."

"Why?"

"This is the best way to combat early frostbite. I think you're actually past the danger point, but I want to make sure."

It sounded reasonable. As she did so, the man leaned over and grabbed the bottle and walked away. Leaning his back up against the door jamb, he slid down it until he sat on the floor, pulling another long swig from the bottle as he settled into place. From where she sat, she saw it was a fifth of Jack Daniels.

Jill looked him over more carefully now, wondering who he was. He was filthy, with matted longish hair and a full, though dirty beard. He was half drunk and smelled to high heaven. He was a large man, about six foot four, but seemed to be in good health otherwise. He was dressed in a large coat overlying a thick lumberjack shirt, work boots, and heavy pants, but she could see he didn't have the physique of a bum. He was very well muscled. His hair was brown and he had blue eyes. His teeth looked good, so he couldn't be just some hobo out here.

"Who are you?", she asked..

"Who are you?", he riposted, "And what the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the countryside smack dab in the center of this crazy blizzard?"

"Long story."

The man laughed.

"I'll bet! This ought to be good, especially since we've got nothing but time right now."

"I don't want to talk about it."

The man laughed again, "Fine, kiddo, I could care less. What's your name? I got to call you something."

She looked askance at him for a minute before answering, "Jill."

"Jill what?"

"Just Jill."

Shacking his head and still chuckling, he replied, "Okay, 'just Jill'. If it makes you any more comfortable, my name's Daniels, Larry Daniels. If you like, you can call me Larry."

"Okay, Larry, so what's your story? What are you doing up here?"

"This is my place."

"You live here?"

"From time to time."

"What do you mean by that?"

Larry took another long draught from the bottle.

"It means from time to time.", he rebutted sarcastically, "Obviously, I don't live here permanently."

"So where do you live?"

He eyed her hard, "You know, you got a lot of questions for someone who doesn't want to talk about herself."

Rebuffed, she ducked her head and looked away, and the silence was only broken by an occasional snap from the fire and the storm's howl. She started to get frustrated.

"Okay, okay. I live in Middleton."

He snorted, "I figured that! What's your last name?"

"Masick.", she lied. She wasn't about to give him anything that could lead this guy back to her home.

He looked at her funny, then answered.

"Okay, Jill Masick. I don't live in Middleton. I live in Denver. I only come out here every now and then to get away from it all."

"You mean to get drunk?"

He smiled sardonically, "No, not at all. I only drink to stay warm."

"You _are_ drunk."

"Well, maybe I am, maybe I ain't."

He snickered as he took another swig. Jill was thinking, 'This is getting nowhere fast.'

She changed the subject,"Is there anything to eat? I'm really hungry."

He pointed to the rough made wooden racks by the fireplace, 'I got some cans of beans or something, somewhere in there. I usually don't stay out here long enough for food. I didn't have a choice this time."

"Do you mind?"

He pursed his lips and waved her on, "Help yourself. I don't need anything right now."

Her fingers and toes were feeling a lot better now. The tingling was just about gone. Drying her hands on her sweater and shaking her feet dry, she got up and knelt down by the racks.

As she rummaged through to find something edible, she asked, "What about your family?"

She could sense the air turn cold from his glare as he answered in a hard voice, "What about it?"

"Uh, don't you think they might want to know where you are?"

"Look, kiddo, or Jill, or whatever your name is. You don't want to talk about why you got stuck out here and I don't like to talk about family, so let it go. Got it?"

"Okay!", she replied harshly, " No need to get so moopy."

"I'm not moopy. Never was. I'm surprised you kids still use that term."

She finally came up with a can of Wolf Brand chili.

He smiled when he saw it, playfully saying, "Hey, that's good stuff! It'll put hair on your chest!"

"Hardly a selling point for me.", she muttered as she looked for a can opener and finally located one, "Never heard of it."

"Yeah, I believe that. I'm kind of surprised they still make it, actually. But it is good."

Larry settled down and keep taking drags at the whiskey bottle. He and Jill didn't talk for awhile as she found a small pot to cook the chili in. Of course, it was dirty and she had to clean it out with some of the water boiling in the large pot. She heated up the chili and found a spoon to use, again having to clean it up first. Then she ate in silence as he sat by the door, eyes closed and taking the occasional drag at the whiskey bottle. She has to agree it was pretty good chili. It was getting colder, so she put some more wood on the fire to stoke it up. Afterwards, she put her socks and shoes back on as well.

Then she remembered.

"Where's the other man?"

He open one eye and looked at her with a side glance.

"What other man?"

"The man who led me here."

He frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"There was this other man. I was trying to follow the road going back to Middleton when he showed up. He was on the other side of the road and waved to me. I followed him here."

Larry opened both eyes and stared at her.

"Where were you coming from?"

"My car broke down west of here."

"About where?"

"Uh, I saw a mile marker. Number 342."

His eyebrows went up in mild surprise.

"You walked over two miles to get to here? In this blizzard?"

She looked at him with a goofy expression on her face, "I guess so."

He snorted, "Good Lord, Jill. You must have been hallucinating with snow blindness or something. Thank your lucky stars because I'm surprised you made it this far. Most people would have frozen to death in well less than one mile."

She blinked at him, understanding just how close a call she had.

"Uh, yeah.", she replied, a little awed, "Well, I'm in pretty good shape, I guess."

She said it as nonchalantly as she could, but a shiver went through her nonetheless.

He chuckled.

"It would seem so.", he said, impressed, and he took another swig from the bottle. But it seemed to give him a sour look.

"Wait.", he added, "Why did you even leave the car?"

"Fuel cell rupture, I think. Burned it up. And the On-Star was out. Happened so fast, I couldn't grab anything before getting out."

He looked incredulously at her, "Huh? Okay, that explains why you have no ID, But are you kidding me? Fuel cell ruptures are damn near impossible."

She described how the accident happened in short order. He listened and nodded to himself in contemplation.

"Sheesh!", he replied, "Yeah, if you fell off the side of the road and got a large rock or something punching through the undercarriage, I can see it happening. But it's still pretty unlucky."

"Duh!", she said with a short laugh, "You can say that again."

"Don't you have a communicator? A com?"

"Left it at home."

He gazed at her steadily, "Boy, you really didn't plan out this whole road trip at all, did you?"

She looked at him slightly embarrassed, "I wasn't exactly thinking straight."

He laughed once more, "In your own words, you can say that again."

Another swig of the bottle emptied it and he threw over in the far corner of the room. Jill could see there were three or four others there to join it.

"You said there was another man out there?", he asked, "One who led you here?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm.", Larry muttered, "That might be ol' Pete Sandidge. He owns the farm next to me. He likes to go out in this crazy weather, sometimes in shorts and a T-shirt!"

She stared.

"That's insane!"

Larry almost sputtered as he laughed, 'Tell me about it! He used to be a bush pilot up in Alaska, until he got too old and he retired out here. He loves this weather! I see him going out ice fishing on the lake all the time. I even watched him build an igloo out there once."

"Really?", Jill said a little incredulous.

"Oh, yeah!", he replied, still chuckling.

She asked, "How did you get here? You must have a car."

He smiled at her, "Yep. I have a truck. It's in wall to wall snow behind the cabin."

"But it has On-Star, doesn't it?" she said excitedly, "We could get out there and call for help!"

He smiled knowingly, then replied, "Sorry. It's an old 2006 Range Rover. They didn't make On-Star universal for motor vehicles at that time."

Deflated, she looked at him strangely, "What are you doing with such an old relic? You can't hardly even get the gas for it these days."

He sighed, "Call me sentimental. It was my first truck. Never got rid of it."

He went silent for a minute, the smile disappearing from his lips, and he looked at her seriously. It hit Jill then that even though he was drunk and occasionally slurred his speech, he seemed to be thinking pretty straight.

"Look, Jill.", he said in a no nonsense tone, "I've thought this through. The blizzard is supposed to last about four or five days. It's the worst one I've seen around here in thirty years. By the time it's over, the plows should be able to get out and clear the snow. I can get to the truck with the shovel and clear a path for it to the road. Then I can take you home, okay? We just have to outlast it until then. I only hope this old pile of logs can withstand this wind storm. It's not too sturdy, and she's never had to take the beating she's getting now."

She blinked her eyes in response, worry creeping onto her face.

"Have we got enough food?"

"I hadn't planned on visitors, but if we ration it out, I think we can make it last."

She looked down at the floor, pulling her light coat close about her and wrapping her arms around herself, listening to the old wood of the shack creak with the wind gusts. Larry could see she was getting tired, the exhaustion from her ordeal finally taking its toll.

"We had better get some sleep.", he said, noticing her weariness, "Maybe we'll get lucky tomorrow and the storm will break early."

She eyed the old mattress warily. He saw her doing that and laughed softly again.

"Look, you take the blanket and the side next to the fire. I'll take the other side. I'm not going to bother you. Do you believe me?"

She stared anxiously at him again, wary but relaxed, replying, "Yeah. I think so."

He nodded kindly, "Good."

She really was pretty sure he wouldn't try anything considering he already had a great chance at taking advantage of her and didn't do it. She gathered up the blanket and laid down on the mattress facing the fire as Larry slowly got up and walked shakily to the other side. He plopped down on his knees and rolled onto the mattress from there. He kept his back to her, as she did to him. She stared at the flames as he shifted a couple of times to get comfortable, then snorted heavily. He had taken an old knitted piece of material that once looked to have been a cardigan or something and rolled it into a ball for a pillow, having let Jill take the one that was there. Considering how dirty it was, she thought about asking him for the cardigan, but finally decided to just deal with it. His breathing quieted as the storm continued to howl overhead.

"Larry?"

"Yeah, Jill."

"Why are you out here right now in the middle of this storm?"

He took another deep breath and let it out, not answering for a minute.

"You could say I wasn't exactly thinking straight either."

"So much for your road trip then, huh?"

"Like you put it, kiddo.", he replied in a tired voice, "You can say that again."

* * *

In the darkness at the Possible/Stoppable residence, two figures lay close together in the master bedroom, the blanket and covers pulled up tight against the cold that still invaded the house despite the sophisticated heating system. Kim was on her left side, breathing calmly as Ron lay snuggled up behind her, his arms embracing her closely, his head buried in that magnificent red aura of hair, a faint rich aroma of her almond scented shampoo still lingering within the locks. They had loved through the night, and Kim had been far more passionate than she had been for a long time. Ron lay in the glow of that passion now, reliving and tasting the joy of it, so exquisite in its pleasure, yet wondering what had brought it on. Kim slept soundly in his arms as he pondered the question, or so he thought.

He easily sensed her awakening, even as the only thing she did was open her eyes, looking across the room. He was that attuned to her. He lay there waiting for her to speak or move, but she didn't. She seemed only to be thinking, remembering, possibly regretting.

"You okay?", he whispered.

"Yeah.", she answered.

He pulled her in a little closer and softly caressed the nape of her neck with his lips, kissing it where it met her shoulder.

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?", he said softly.

Kim turned over and faced him, dislodging the covers, the sheen on her skin from their lovemaking seeming to brighten the form of her body with a golden glow that outlined everything in the room so clearly to him. She put her arms around him as he embraced her yet again, and she kissed him in slow deliberate fashion. Her bare skin breathed its warmth against his from her lips to his feet as he absorbed the rapturous touch which filled his soul for the millionth time. She pulled back a bit, their lips only inches apart, and looked deeply into his eyes with those green emeralds of hers, smiling, but with a worried look on her face.

"You can tell, huh?"

A slight smirk came to Ron's face, "Well, I've only known you since we were four. Maybe that's not enough time."

She gave out a small snort and chuckled, "Yeah, that's long enough. I was just feeling... ...guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Yeah.", she replied with a sigh, the worried look returning as she reached up and stroked his face tenderly.

"You see, there I was, worried about Jill. I'm scared for Tara, because Jill could really die out there so easily. She has got to be so terrified and frightened right now."

"I know, Kim."

"And all I could think of when I saw you there in your meditation was 'What if it was one of our girls'?"

Ron frowned slightly, "But it isn't, Kim. The girls are trained too well to go off and do anything like this."

"I know, Ron, I know. But I couldn't shake it, and then I suddenly really needed to feel your arms around me. I needed you to... ...to make me feel like everything was safe again."

He nodded, understanding, "And now you're feeling guilty that we're here loving each other like this while Tara and Kevin are going through hell."

Kim grimaced guiltily, "Yeah. Something like that."

Ron pulled her in again and kissed her once more, wrapping his arms even tighter around her, Kim responding to the assurance of his caresses that everything would indeed be all right. When he let her go again, he looked at her with a small confident smile, that look telling her she had no reason to feel guilty.

"Look, KP.", he whispered, "You are the one who's going to save Jill. You have to be ready to do that. If you are too distracted by these feelings of guilt, you can't do your job. And if loving you is what it takes to reassure you that everything will be fine, and that you can still do anything, then I'll love you until hell freezes over if that's what it takes. You have no reason to feel guilty that we're here like this. I think even Kevin and Tara would understand."

"You think so?"

"Honey, she's one of your best friends. Why wouldn't she?"

Kim looked deep into the warm toned ecru of his eyes, seeing the truth of his conviction, that he was right. Her face relaxed into a wider smile.

"I knew there was a good reason I married you."

"You mean the kisses?"

Kim reached over and leveraged Ron over on top of her, her eyes inviting him to love her again.

"Better than that.", she murmured as she pulled his mouth back onto hers.

* * *

Late in the night, the wolves began to howl thorugh the cutting gale, even the powerful winds unable to muffle them over the miles of terrain. Larry Daniels opened his eyes and listened a moment, then smiled to himself as he closed them again to go back to sleep.

'Yeah', he thought, 'Exactly where I knew they would be.'

His light snoring soon picked back up again.

* * *

**The next chapter I hope to have out in one or two days... ...maybe...**


	4. Enduring the Pain

**Author's Note: One of the gifts some of the other writers have is their ability to faithfully duplicate the banter and dialogue of the show in its original form. MrDrP and Charles Gray comes to mind as two of the best exponents of this. MrDrP makes a very good case for doing this as he notes that the success of KP depends on the fact that it is a "dialogue driven" show, which I think is quite right, and by which I believe accounts for much of the success of his stories. It is a discipline I have strived to match but have not truly mastered. But part of that is because there is a certain zaniness to that dialogue whcih I cannot carry over to this story or much of the previous "Resolution" repertoire as these stories are darker and more serious, yet I strive to retain that character of speech and interchange as best I can. This chapter will introduce some technobabble which I have constructed for the purposes of telling a large part of Tara's story in regards to her work, something easily done since I am in the medical field myself, but that part of the story also reveals the reason for the inner demons that assail Jill's savior.**

**Enduring the Pain**

The next morning found the blizzard worse than the night before. It howled incessantly. Visibility was zero, making it impossible for the snow plows to operate. There was no traffic of any kind, and five foot drifts covered the roads. The National Guard had been called out to keep order after the Governor put a state wide emergency into place. People were advised to stay in their homes and not leave. Fortunately, communications allowed virtually anyone with a desperate or crucial need to call for help, and the Guard was doing a good job of supplying assistance and supplies when people called in for aid. The majority of the troops were able to accomplish this as the risk of looting in this weather was virtually nonexistent.

Kim Possible had called a 'Code 2-1B' for Team Possible headquarters, an emergency relocation of all essential personnel in a non-combat situation. This was only one step below a 'Code Wolverine', which was a full relocation of all essential personnel and their families in an emergent hostile condition. All essential trained medical personnel and primary Team Possible members and their families would be relocated in the facility bunkers below ground for the duration of the storm. Activity at the Stoppable/Possible household was similarly furious. Ron was busy making breakfast for the gang as Kim rushed around trying to get everything organized.

"Hurry up, Mim!", she cried out from the laundry room, whipping open the dryer and grabbing some of the girl's clothes, "The Sunhawk will be here in ten!"

"I still can't find my pink top, Mom!", came the answer from upstairs.

"It's here!", Kim yelled back in exasperation, "And why do you need it now?"

"It the only thing that'll fit my pants! Nothing else looks right!"

"Whatever!", Kim growled as she pulled the top out of the pile and folded it quickly.

She called out again, "K-J!"

"I'm right here, Mom", her daughter answered as she glided into the kitchen, plopping her suitcase on the ground next to her brothers' and sitting down at the dining table. She dove immediately into the pancake stacks and sausages her father had prepared.

Kim came back into the kitchen and asked, "Are you packed?"

"Yeah, Mom.", K-J replied as she stuck a fork into some links and loaded them on a plate.

"Toothbrush?"

"Yes, Mom!"

"Vanity case? Toiletries?"

"Mom!", K-J retorted, getting irritated.

"Do you have enough underwear? How about..."

"Mom! Chillax! I've got everything!", K-J cried out in exasperation, "I'm good to go! Okay?"

Kim frowned at her, "Uh-huh! Like you said you were before the trip to Disneyworld?"

K-J gaped at her, "Mom! I was six! I think I've got it down now!"

Kim muttered to herself and retreated to the laundry to get more clothes out of the dryer. Her sons, already chowing down at the table, snickered at their little sister which made her stare back in annoyance. In between pancake bites, Tim commented, "Stop worrying, Mom. She's okay. We made sure of that."

"What do you mean?", asked K-J threateningly.

Completely unfazed, Jim answered, "Oh, we went thorugh your suitcase to make sure you had everything..."

"...and we wouldn't want you to be without your pink underwear with hearts, you know!", Tim finished as both boys began snickering even harder.

K-J, outraged, turned on her oldest sibling, her face drained of color, "You did NOT so do that! Did you? Don't you dare! My personal stuff is a 'no brother' zone! You hear me?"

Jim piped in again, "We just wanted to make sure you packed your deodorant too."

The boys lost it laughing out loud as K-J angrily punched the nearest one in the shoulder.

"Oww!", Tim yelped good naturedly and still laughing, "Mom! K-J's hitting me!"

Kim pulled out more clothes from the dryer.

"You're not ten anymore, son. Deal with it.", she replied in irritation, even though she knew he was kidding.

Then she yelled back, "By the way, boys, which bird are you going out on?"

"Five.", Tim answered.

"Nine,", Jim followed

"Bird 'no way, Jose!'", muttered K-J sulkily under her breath, quiet enough that her mother couldn't hear her. The boys grinned in satisfaction.

"You're going to have to head directly for them once we hit the tarmac in the hangar!", their mother said.

"We know, Mom!", the boys said in tandem.

"Good.", Kim answered as she came back in with some of Ron's clothes and dumped them on the counter, sorting them. The Kimmunicator beeped, roundly aggravating her again. She tapped her wrist unit and said, "Go!"

"Primary personnel and families are now on base, Commander. Most of the medical personnel are also situated. We still have a few left out there."

"ET completion of Code status?"

"Estimate two hours, maximum. We're still going to need authorization from NSA on those birds."

"Yes, I know, I'll take care of that as soon as I get in."

"Aye, aye, Commander. Out."

She switched off the Kimmunicator and dove into the pile of clothes.

"Ron, where are your mission pants?"

"I don't know, KP. I thought they were there."

She turned and looked at him, finally piqued.

"You need to keep up with your own stuff!", she griped, "Why do I have to do everything around here?"

"Au contraire, my love! I do the cooking."

"And I do the housework!"

"But I also do the cooking."

"And the cleaning, and washing, not to mention the fact you did not change one single diaper when the kids were babies!"

Ron turned back to her with a haughty gesture, his nose in the air.

"And did I mention that I do the cooking, _madame_", he said in smiling satire.

"Hey, Mom.", said Jim, "We help out, too., sometimes, sort of"

Kim stared him down, looking quite perturbed, "You know, real soon we're going to have a serious discussion in this family about what exactly it is you think 'helping out' means, and how the chores are getting done around here!"

The kids hunched their shoulders and turned their attention back to eating breakfast to avoid her glare, as did Ron, who whistled idly as he flipped pancakes.

"Mom!", Mim called from upstairs, 'I can't find my chartreuse capris!"

Kim snorted and muttered, "As if that girl needs them. I really _am_ doing everything!"

"But, honey.", said Ron, turning and cocking his fists on his hips and frowning, "I really am doing the cooking."

"Thank you, Mr. Do-it-all!", she fired back, annoyed, "But at the rate I'm going, I might as well save you the trouble and do that too!"

"No way!", yelled Jim, Tim, and K-J simultaneously, looking up at her in midbite and staring in fear.

Kim blinked back at them in mild surprise, then rolled her eyes as her shoulders slumped.

"Whatever.", she said sullenly, as she turned in defeat and headed up the stairs to help Mim get packed. She started running when she heard the rotors of the Sunhawk nearing the house.

* * *

Tara and Kevin sat woodenly in the den, waiting. James lounged nearby with his packed suitcase packed next to theirs. Before long the sound of propellers filtered through the walls and Kevin got up and set the house alarm.

"Come on.", he said, "That's going to be our ride."

He opened the door to a powerful blast of cold and snow as Tara and James hunched their shoulders, wrapped their coats tighter, picked up their bags, and headed straight into the wind. Kevin quickly followed and locked the door behind him as three figures ran up to them. The Sunhawk had landed in the street just in front of the house, its wings turned vertical and the jets operating at about half power for pure lift, whipping the snow banks into a fine cloud of white powder all around after blasting it out of their landing zone. Two of the figures grabbed the suitcases from them and helped Tara and James get to the helicopter. The third man greeted Kevin at the porch.

"Uncle Kev!", he yelled, taking Kevin's suitcase from him, "We've got to hurry! We're going to need this unit for the search!"

"Thanks, Jim!", yelled Kevin over the noise, "Has there been any progress?"

Jim shook his head a couple of times and yelled back, "Nothing so far! But Mom wanted me to tell you we're narrowing the search parameters! Uncle Wade tracked down some traffic camera footage that showed the car heading west, possibly southwest! Let's go!"

They quickly boarded the Sunhawk, Team Possible operatives helping them get strapped in. Jim was the last on board and as Kevin sat down and buckled up. The young man shut the door and yelled to the pilots that everything was secured. Almost immediately, the whining of the engines picked up and the craft lurched into the air, fighting the heavy wind.

Kevin turned to Tara, "They think she may have headed west.

Perplexed, she looked at Jim, "There's nothing out there. She doesn't know anybody in that direction."

"I don't know any more than that, Aunt Tara. That's all we got right now. But don't worry, we should find Jill a lot quicker now. Mom may have more for you at the base by the time we get there. I've got to get back on the com and coordinate with the rest of the search."

Jim headed for the front of the craft as Tara and Kevin settled in for a short ride that normally lasted only fifteen minutes, but it took almost an hour before they reached the large hangar doors at the base. As they approached, the gargantuan anodized aluminum slabs opened up and allowed the Sunhawk to come in and settle down on the landing pad. The huge doors closed quickly afterwards. As soon as it touched down, the cabin door opened and the crew exited. Jim lagged behind and helped the passengers down. The engines were shut off quickly and a tow car came and hooked onto the front of the craft to move it out of the landing pad. This made way for the next craft to land as a klaxon boomed inside the massive enclosure, followed by a voice that echoed back and forth across it.

"Attention. Attention. Red drake units three and four. Repeat, units three and four. Ready for immediate departure. All personnel clear the immediate area."

Across the way, Tara could see two other Sunhawks starting their rotors up, preparing to take off. The support personnel were rapidly exiting that part of the hangar. With her arms around James, she walked across the tarmac with Kevin and Jim towards the small enclosed structure in the center of the huge hangar. James was excited. This was the first time he had ever seen this part of the Team Possible complex. He had never been outside the medical section and stared goggle-eyed at all the activity, especially the Sunhawks.

Inside the BATCC, Tara could see a small cluster of people holding an impropmptu conference in front of a bank of control panels situated there. It wasn't hard to pick out that lengthy mane of red hair moving about with a clip board within that small mob. Kim was dressed in her familiar old black turtleneck top and cargo pants with utility belt, the same mission gear she had ever since high school. These days, however, the one difference she had effected was that her midriff no longer showed. About the time the girls were about four years old, she decided that no longer appropriate for a thirty-two year old mother of four. Ten years later, it was still the same mission outfit.

Kim looked up as soon as Tara got there. Immediately, she put down her clip board and embraced Tara emotionally. They stood there like that for several long moments as everyone around quieted down and waited.

When she pulled back, Kim looked at her with worried eyes, "How are you holding up?"

"As best as I can, considering."

"You've heard that we think she went west or southwest?"

"Yeah. There's nobody out that way she would know."

"We've already re-routed the search patterns, and I'll let you know if anything turns up as soon as I find out. You have my word. Now you and Kevin and James can hold up in guest quarters for as long as you want. Anything you need, just ask."

"Thanks, Kim. But I've still got rounds to make.

Kim's eyes widened a bit, "But, Tara! Not at a time like this! Can't you get somebody to cover?"

"For the general pedi rounds, yes. I already did that. But nobody else can do the pedi onco service. I'm all they got."

Kim slowly shook her head, "I don't know how you do it, girlfriend."

Tara smirked, saying softly, "The same way you do, Kim. One day at a time."

Kim returned her smile and replied, "Don't work too hard. You've been doing that way too long now, you know."

Tara smiled blandly, "Hey, gotta take care of the patients."

"Yeah, I understand.", Kim replied, smiling.

She looked down at James standing beside her. Quickly she gathered him into her arms, "You doing okay, sport?"

James gave her a hug and replied, "Yeah, Aunt Kim. I'll be alright. But this is so cool!"

Everyone laughed momentarily as Kevin came over and also gave her a warm embrace.

"Thanks so much, Kim, for everything."

"Hey, no big.", she replied smiling, "Besides, I still owe you one."

"As if you haven't repaid that so many times over already.", he riposted, gently chuckling.

Kim turned back to Tara, "It won't be long. We _will _find her. The snow will give her plenty of water to drink in the meantime. If she stays in the car, she can stay warm enough for several days before the fuel is exhausted. And we'll find her long before that happens."

"I know you will, Kim. Thanks."

There passed between them a moment of calm, their looks telling each other that they both were doing they best they could, even with the worry etched into their faces being so evident.

Well,", said Tara, "I better get to work."

"Me, too."

They hugged each other one more time and the Gubermans headed out of the BATCC towards the far door which would eventually lead them to the guest quarters. Kim took her clip board back up and turned her attention to the meeting. Jim came up and gave her a quick embrace and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hi. Warm enough out there for you?"

"Duh! Nothing a Possible can't handle."

Kim chuckled, "So your grandfather always says. Where's your brother?"

"Tim's on unit three. I'll be headed out with unit seven this time."

"K-J and Mim?"

"Still stewing like a couple of Banthas in a blizzard.", he said laughing.

Kim rolled her eyes and chuckled with him.

"I _still_ cannot believe you are such _Star Wars _junkies!"

""Oh, yeah, Mom! You know how we love those really old movies.", he replied, "They're critical!"

She eyed him with some annoyance, noting the new teenager's term which meant 'badical!' when she was their age.

"Where are they?"

"In their bedrooms, I think.", he said, "I don't think they've gotten out their sulking stage yet."

"About time they did.", she muttered. "I'll com them here in a minute."

"You'd have them up here in two seconds if they knew you'd let them ride a Sunhawk.", Jim teased.

She scowled at him, "Don't irritate the Supreme Commander! It's not healthy."

Jim just chuckled, "Come on, Mom. I know you and Dad aren't going to let them do it. In fact, Tim and I have a bet going as to how old they'll be when you finally let them go on mission."

She stared at him, "Huh? You did what?"

"Yeah, Mom. We bet each other fifty bucks. Tim says twenty-eight. I say twenty-six."

"Twenty-six!", she exclaimed in surprise.

"And only if they're married by then!", Jim added pointedly.

Kim reached out and grabbed her son by the shoulders and turned him around, then pushed him roughly towards the doorway, swatting him on the butt.

"Get out of here, you!", she growled, "You're risking insubordination charges!"

"Insubordination? How?"

"Standing orders not to irritate your mother! Now scoot!"

"Love you, too, Mom!" he said as he kept going out of the BATCC, laughing all the way.

She smirked as she shook her head in exasperation, watching him leave, then turned her attention back to the main view screen, checking the FTM. Two dots were headed on the way back in. Their ID's made them out as RD9 and RD10. Kim stepped to the comm console and asked the NCO to call RD3.

"Bat-see, this is red drake nine, over.", came the reply.

Kim took over the mike, recognizing her son's voice, "Red drake nine, this is Bat-see. Tim, did you come up with anything?"

"Negative, Mom. We covered grids seventy two, seventy three, eighty two, and eighty three. There was nothing moving down there. Only two disabled vehicles on the roads that we could find, and neither of them fit the description of Aunt Tara's car."

Kim sighed, "Okay, you're on the way back in to refuel?"

"Right, Mom. Should be there in fifteen."

"I'll need you all to get back out there as soon as you can to cover the next four grids."

"Right, Mom. You're the boss."

"So you're father keeps telling me.", Kim said chuckling.

"See? He knows exactly who's in charge, as long as it's outside of the kitchen."

She furrowed her brows, but the smile was still there, "Hey, don't rub it in."

She heard him laugh on the other side, "Sorry, Mom. Red drake nine ETA in fifteen. Out."

"Bat-see out.", she said, giving the microphone back to the NCO on station.

A blast of cold air hit as the huge hangar doors opened and let units seven and eight fly out of the hangar. As the base was sealed again afterwards, Kim turned her attention back to the consoles.

"Any further satellite information, lieutenant?", she asked of the OD.

"None, Commander. The last view was forty seven minutes ago. The next available satellite won't be up for close to an hour."

"And the geosynchronous birds?"

"The government's still not letting those go to our use just yet. Priority isn't high enough for this mission.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that was what would happen.", she muttered as she clicked a few more buttons. Wade appeared on one of the side screens.

"Anything, Wade?"

His booming bass came back, "Not a thing, Kim. I've temporarily modified the satellite tracking sensors to the infrared range. There are a few hot spots out there that seem to be houses, but there are none of them in range of the roads that I can determine. No signature compatible with a car like Tara's. And there isn't a single car moving out there within range anyway. There are a few anomalies, nothing significant, but I'll check them out. We're continuing to track."

"It makes sense, Wade. The plows haven't been able to go out. Everything's going to be frozen in place for awhile."

"I could hack the geo-syncs."

Kim grimaced and wrestled with her conscience on that one, "No. Much as I would like to, the last time we did that it raised holy hell with the NSA. So, better not. If only I knew then what I know now, we could have avoided having to go to government support eight years ago. Things were so much easier when we were independents."

"Got that right, Kim!", Wade agreed morosely, "But you know if we hadn't tapped into those birds that time, we would have never stopped that stolen plutonium from reaching Iran."

"I know, Wade, I know. But that was 'world crisis' important, and even though the NSA accepted it as necessary, I still have to resolve the fallout from it. There's no way I could ever get them to see it that way in this case, much as I would like to find a way to justify it."

"Yeah, I know." he replied sadly, "Okay. If Jill is in the car and just keeping it warm, we should be able to spot the heat signature without much of a problem. But so far, nada."

"I know, Wade."

"I got a bad feeling about this."

"Please, Wade. Don't say that. Not with Jill at stake."

"Right, Kim. Sorry."

"Just keep looking, okay?"

"Sure thing. I'll see you in briefing.", and the screen went blank, leaving Kim standing there for some moments deep in thought.

"Commander."

Kim was still lost in her musings when she looked up, "Yes, lieutenant?"

"We still have some alerts to consider."

She hissed softly to herself in irritation. After all, every job had its 'paperwork'. Although her primary mission at the moment was Operations Mars and the search for Jill, Team Possible always had several irons in the fire, always following up on threats simultaneously occurring throughout the world. These matters had to be attended on a regular basis. It was just that this time she really didn't want to be distracted with anything else, but she had no choice.

Begrudgingly, she headed for the ready room for the daily briefing. As she entered, the room was called to attention once more and she just as quickly ordered 'at ease', more annoyed she had to do this twice in one week. She sat down at the head of the conference table, ten subordinates waiting with expectant eyes, ready to brief her on current hot spot situations around the world. A large monitor blinked on behind where Kim sat, and Wade's face appeared. ComIntel was a critical component of all briefings. With a quick assent from her, they began.

There was a new rebellion in Laos that had started two weeks earlier and required close monitoring. That government was holding on for now, but just barely. Also, despite being decidedly settled fifteen years ago, the Afghanistan situation always needing watching. The democratic government was now firmly established and had been finally able to extend its influence to all of the individual provincial seats of power. But even today there were still elements of Taliban and other Muslim extremists raising their ugly heads and causing trouble, usually in criminal smuggling of opium to finance their continued dreams of Islamic conquest. Russia's economy was finally stabilizing after undergoing a roaring style 1920's like era for the last twenty years, full of organized crime and lawlessness, but now these elements had gradually been shut down and kept to a minimum, although there was still some seriously dangerous activity going on in the criminal world, especially where the storage of nuclear weapons grade material was concerned. The Russians still hadn't gotten rid of it all, and the mobsters had only gone more underground in trying to steal it to sell to terrorists or anybody else who would pay well enough for it, making it harder to find them.

Kim calmly sat through the briefing on each situation and gave the appropriate orders as needed. Normally she would hand off some of this to Jos, who in her capacity of XO had been given the rank of 'major'. It wasn't naval, but for some strange reason it seemed to fit her. However, right now she was on a long and well deserved vacation to the Bahamas. Kim was not about to bring her back unless absolutely necessary, even though when Jos did come back she would probably upbraid Kim for not calling her when Jill went missing. Kim knew she could calm her down then because she wouldn't have been able to add anything more to the mix anyway.

Two hours later, the briefing was over, and satisfied that all the issues were handled, Kim dismissed the subordinates to their duties. She looked over her shoulder at the monitor and nodded to Wade, a silent question to ask if there were any further details from him. He nodded in return, saying there were a few more things he wanted to bring up. She waited until the room was clear and then he brought her up to date on the search.

They were concentrating on the western search area now. Units one and two had been diverted from the east, as well as seven and eight from the south. Five and six were already there and as soon as they were ready to head back out, she was adding nine and ten to get a more concentrated search party out there. They would start to home in on the areas west and southwest of Middleton.

Wade finished the update and signed off. Kim kept staring at the blank monitor, eyeing it hard and bitterly.

"Come on, Jill.", she said to no one there, "Hang in there."

She rose up and strode out of the ready room towards her office. She had already gotten the messages that two congressman and one senator wanted to have 'words' with her about the "unauthorized utilization of government resources" that happened a couple of months prior, which of course was her use of those pesky geosynchronous orbiting satellites...

'Geez!', she thought as she walked down the hallway, "I _so_ hate politics.'

* * *

Tara left Kevin and James in their guest quarters and walked back to her office in the medical wing of Team Possible Headquarters. She plopped down the journals that her son had carried for her, sat down at her desk, and activated her monitor to 'com' the infirmary section.

A bright, cheery young nurse's face filled the screen and answered, "Hi, Dr. Monroe. I see you got through to the base okay."

"Managed just fine. Thanks, Belinda.", she replied, "Anything to report down there?"

Belinda Torres, one of three charge nurses for pediatric oncology, which was Ward Six, and the one on duty this day, smiled back and said, "No big problems. Randall is tolerating the chemotherapy without any side effects."

"That's good. Second round if I remember correctly, right?"

"That's right. Dr. Chou did start it as scheduled. How many more will he need?"

"That depends on his response, but leukemias like his usually require anywhere from six to twelve treatments with the new antigen targeted therapies. Why do you ask?"

"His parents were wondering about when they could take him back home to Seattle."

"Yes, I can't blame them. But it's too early to tell. I'll talk to them later about it. How about Nancy?"

Belinda's smile perked up and she laughed, "Oh! That baby is so cute! She was a lot more active with her mother today. I think she recovered a lot quicker from the chemo this time."

Tara's nodded with a slight grin. It was unfortunate that Nancy's cancer was one for which medicine had nothing better to offer than the old style anti-metabolites. But it seemed to be working well.

"Yes.", she replied, "Let's hope that the therapy works. What about Melissa?"

Belinda's smile dropped, "No improvement. She's still not responsive."

Tara nodded again, "Yes, I see."

"Are you making rounds soon?"

"I'll be there shortly, Belinda. See you soon."

"Of course, Dr. Monroe."

Tara shut down the monitor. Normally the ward could hold as many as twenty patients and her average census was about ten. With everything that was going on now, she felt fortunate that they were in a lull and only had the three patients in house at this time. God knew she had enough on her mind. Right now though, it was Melissa that worried her the most.

She was actually quite optimistic about the other two, but Melissa Daniels was a beautiful little nine year old with a refractory medulloblastoma sitting in the middle of her brainstem which had slowly grown and disrupted brain function with time. The cancer was inoperable. Dr. Possible had reviewed the case and confirmed that. The girl had undergone the usual chemotherapies which unfortunately failed. It was a remarkably resistant tumor which did not exhibit the usable antigen markers in a consistent manner, which was why the initial therapies failed. Afterwards, they reverted to old style anti-metabolites which had made her quite sick, though it did delay the tumor's growth, even halting it for awhile, but eventually it did start growing again. Radiation treatment was offered, but because of the high incidence of long term side effects, the parents had refused. There was little else to offer.

Something had happened to the father then. He couldn't handle the poor prognosis and snapped, abruptly leaving the family and disappearing without a trace. Nobody knew where he had been for the last three weeks. His wife was very depressed about it, but completely supported him, saying that her husband had his own problems to deal with, and that he would be back. Tara was very sympathetic when she heard this, even more so now. Facing the possibility of the imminent death of your child was something with which she was now painfully coming to grips. She actually admired Mrs. Daniels' faithfulness and charity to her missing husband despite his apparent desertion. The woman continued to maintain he would come back, never wavering from that belief.

It was right after the father disappeared that Mrs. Daniels brought her daughter to Team Possible Medical Center. She had researched Tara's work on the internet on her selective tumor marker discovery techniques and targeted immunotherapy on recalcitrant tumors, and noted that her special area of investigation was medulloblastoma. When she contacted her and asked Tara to take the case, Tara had warned her that the chances were still slim at best, but Mrs. Daniels replied any chance was better than none. Tara of course could not refuse and had the girl's medical records forwarded. She arrived with her mother shortly afterwards and had been here about two and half weeks.

Tara picked up her stethoscope and headed out of her office towards the ward. As she did, she thought through everything about the case that had occurred over the last seventeen days.

* * *

"Dr. Monroe."

Someone was knocking on the door jamb. Tara looked up from her desk at the PA for the day trying to get her attention.

"Yes, Gina, what is it?"

"The new patient and her mother are here to see you."

She looked at her calendar.

"Hmmm. It is the sixth of December, isn't it? Time does fly."

"Sure does, Doctor."

"Okay. Show them in."

She stood to greet the new arrivals as Gina ushered them though. Samantha Daniels was a relatively small woman with short brown hair and a round pleasant face, dressed conservatively yet definitely with an eye for quality. Some of it was rather pricey too, if Tara didn't miss her guess. She came in with her daughter, Melissa, who was dressed warmly in a thick sweater and pants, Nike's on her feet. She had on a mauve woolen cap to warm her head and cover her baldness from her previous chemo treatments. Tara immediately saw that despite the smile she gave, the girl was underweight and had the characteristic bags under her eyes indicative of her previous therapies. She definitely did not look healthy and walked with a wide spaced gait, a disability she had from the damage to part of her brain which the tumor was causing.

Tara came around her desk, smiling and offered her hand, saying "Mrs. Daniels, please come in. Welcome to Team Possible Medical Center."

The woman smiled her thanks and shook the proffered hand before taking a seat in front of the desk with Melissa sitting in her lap, her arms around the girl protectively.

"Thank you, Dr. Monroe. I trust you've received the medical records by now?"

"Yes, I have, and I have gone over them thoroughly."

"What do you think can be done?"

Tara sat back down at her desk as she gathered her thoughts. This was the part she did not like to do. Grim news is always tough to take, sometimes tougher to give.

"Mrs. Daniels, first off let me tell you that from what I can see, your previous doctors have done a fine job doing what they could with Melissa's cancer. From my perspective, peripheral as it may be, I concur with what they have done. The molecular genetic and biochemical marker studies which have been done are exhaustive and comprehensive. They have tried all the recommended available protocols in regard to antigen targeting therapy as well as conventional chemo. The only modality left is radiation therapy, which you have refused, and I do understand your reasons, so I will not debate that further except to confirm your objection.

Tara looked at Melissa a second before continuing. Her mother noted that.

"It's okay, Dr. Monroe. You can speak in front of my daughter. She and I have already talked about the life and death issues involved here. Part of the reason we refused radiation was because that was also her decision, too. She's able to understand quite well what's going on."

Tara's heart strings felt a twang. What a brave little girl.

"Just for the record, then, you are aware that refusing radiation treatment could have fatal consequences?"

"I understand perfectly, and I will continue to refuse, as does my daughter. We believe that the risk of the serious side effects in the future is simply too high."

"Very well.", replied Tara, "Then you are aware that we have exhausted the usual medical channels and treatments. There's nothing left but experimental modalities."

"That is why I searched you out, Doctor. It is my understanding that you are one of the top researchers in, correct me if I mispronounce this, real time molecular and biophysical chemical targeting of tumor antigen presentation?"

Tara smiled, "Yes, you have it right. That was the title of my last research paper."

"Yes.", replied Mrs. Daniels, "Of course, I didn't try and read it, but one of my doctors did try to explain it to me. He said, and correct me if I'm wrong, that Melissa's tumor is so primitive and aggressive that it is constantly changing how it looks. What that meant was that the drugs they developed couldn't work because after a while the cancer cells could hide from them."

"That is essentially correct."

"My doctor also suggested Melissa's case to you because your research is a possible solution to that problem."

"That is true, but I remind you again that it is still experimental. I have an approved program to deal with certain tumors that qualifies for this, and only with certain protocols that have passed a board review."

"I understand, and I have been told by your nurse practitioner that my daughter also fits your criteria for entry into your study. Am I correct?"

"Yes, you are. The biopsy results and your daughter's medical history do meet the standards for the protocol. I only hope we can be helpful. But do you understand I can make no promises of any kind?"

Mrs. Daniels nodded, "I don't have much choice, do I?"

Tara nodded sadly in return, then said, "Okay, the first thing I need to do is get Melissa admitted to the infirmary and do a physical examination, then we can do the initial studies on her blood work and cerebral spinal fluid to see what our initial therapy will be."

They all got up and Tara called for Gina again, directing her to get Melissa admitted and prepped. Once she gave her instructions to the PA, she knelt down and smiled at the little girl.

"Hi, Melissa.", she said, "Do you understand what we're going to do now?"

The little girl looked at her with very innocent eyes and nodded several times.

"We're going to have to draw blood from your arms and get some fluid from the port in your head."

"It's all right.", the girl said, rolling up her sleeves and showing the multiple needle sticks in her arms, "It doesn't hurt much anymore."

"And is the port okay, too, honey?"

Melissa pulled off her cap, exposing her whitened scalp, bluish veins prominently showing, slight wisps of her light brown hair still attached in places, pointing to the mediport from the ventricular shunt placed in her left temporal region just under her skin.

"I can hardly feel that one when they stick it.", she said with a short laugh.

Tara smiled back and gave the girl a hug, "You are so brave, Melissa. We're going to do everything we can."

"I know."

"It's only eighteen days to Christmas. What would you like Santa to get you?"

"Well, I already wrote him, but there's one thing I really want more than anything."

"What's that?"

"I want Daddy to play again."

Tara's eyes narrowed, not understanding what she meant. But before she could ask, the girl spoke again, her eyes now excited.

"Do you have the new Holo-playstation eight point zero here? They didn't at the other hospital."

Tara laughed, "As a matter of fact we do."

"Cool!", she said with a big smile, then she turned to her mother, "Let's go, Mom! I want to see!"

Her mother chuckled, "Go ahead, dear. I'll be along in a minute.", as Gina took her hand and they went out to the ward.

Tara stood back up, "Nine years old and she knows what a Holo-playstation 8.0 is? My, they grow so quick."

"They do, indeed.", Mrs. Daniels replied solemnly.

"But, I'm sorry. I didn't quite get what she meant, about her father playing?"

She didn't answer at first. Mrs. Daniels looked at her with sad eyes, then said, "After the last chemo treatment made her so sick, she didn't want to try anymore. When I told her about your work, she was very hesitant to go through all the testing, the treatments, the IV's, the medicines. She's been so afraid. But when her father told her he wasn't going back to work until she was well, she didn't want that to happen. She knows how much Larry loves what he does. So she made him promise that he would go back to work if she would get well again. Right now, that's what's driving her to cooperate."

Her eyes began to tear up. Tara reached back and grabbed a box of tissues, but Mrs. Daniels waved her away and reached into her purse.

"It's okay. She misses her father. Ever since she became ill, he's always stayed by her side and hadn't gone back to work. That's what Melissa means by that. Larry's play is his work. It's because he enjoys it so much that it's like play to him. But just before we came out here..."

"Yes."

"Well, he disappeared. When we heard that the treatments had failed, and there was nothing more to be done except the radiation. He actually argued we should do it, but Melissa said she'd had enough. She's so tired. At that point I think he lost hope, and it's crushing him."

She starting crying silently. Tara put a hand on her shoulder.

"I am so sorry, Mrs. Daniels. Is there anything I can do?"

"Not for that, no. I'm just glad I was able to get Melissa to come and try again.", she sniffed, taking the handkerchief she pulled out and dabbing at her eyes. Quickly, she got herself under control again before going on.

"But I really don't think you need to worry about this. I know my husband. He really is a very strong person, and I know he'll return for Melissa. You see, he was gone before I could tell him we already left Denver. I had been looking at several experimental programs, and I told him I had chosen your program. But he doesn't know we're already here. He was very uncomfortable with the idea in the first place, because he didn't like the idea of, well, of you 'experimenting' on his daughter, but he finally agreed to let me try it, for Melissa. I've left him a message back home. Once he gets it, nothing will keep him away."

"Yes. I must say I am impressed with your charity work. Mrs. Daniels. Your family is well noted for it, and in the past I have had occasion to talk with some of the people in your organization who have arranged donations to some of the other research going on here at TPMC. Is your husband involved with your work? I don't recall meeting him. Perhaps he might have contacted one of them?"

Mrs. Daniels looked at her with a brief glimmer of fright, but of what Tara couldn't figure out. It went as quickly as it came, her worried demeanor taking back over.

"No.", she said, "No, you wouldn't know him from that, I believe. He doesn't work for me. He has his own career. I do wish he would have contacted some of my people, but he's only peripherally involved, so I don't think so."

"I see. Well, I'm sure then he'll come soon. I'll leave word with security to be expecting him, then."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'll leave you then to your work."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Daniels. I'll see you soon.", she replied.

She watched quietly as the woman walked away, heading down the hall after her daughter and the PA. Tara watched her go, still wondering how a father could leave his child like that in the middle of such a crisis, and how his wife could be so devoted to him even in the face of that.

* * *

Three days later, the initial tests had come back. The built in bedside MRI scanners had mapped the tumor impinging onto the cerebellum, starting to wrap around the brainstem. It was amazing how much they were able to shrink the size of the magnets now for those scanners, completely encasing them within the structure of the bed itself. What concerned Tara most was a tongue of the cancer had extended into the right fourth ventricle and was partially blocking the third, which necessitated the ventricular shunt. Of course having the mediport attached also made for easy access to getting specimens of CSF, or cerebrospinal fluid. But it was not with the risk of problems. The threat for infection was so great having that thing in there. So far, though, there was only very minimal swelling, and the girl hadn't required any steroids. 'So far', thought Tara, 'so good."

The anatomy defined, the cellular and molecular aspects had to be determined. Basic chemistries were normal enough for a nine year old. Her Alk Phos was a little high, consistent with a child who was growing. The liver function tests were also a little elevated, indicating some inflammation from the previous chemotherapy. She was anemic, but that was to be expected for a chronically ill patient. There were no surprises. Of course, Dr. Possible had already reviewed the films and pronounced the tumor inoperable as Tara suspected she would.

Next came the molecular genetics which came from the CSF. Melissa's normal genome had already been sequenced for comparison to the tumor cells. Fortunately, there were enough cancer cells that shed off into the CSF so that they could be recovered from the samples taken from the mediport for DNA replication by PCR and then sequencing. There were a couple of gross translocations of long chromosome arms, but it was inconsistent. That was the first indication the cancer was not a single clone, which meant that it was actually several different cancers, although somewhat related. Protein and glycoprotein analysis of surface antigens also were done to help determine better the construction of the targeting antibodies used to go after the cancer cells. It was like designing smart bombs that would only hit certain houses in a city that waved enemy flags, but no others.

What Tara discovered was what she had feared most. The tumor was very anaplastic, or primitive as the layman would understand the term, which made it very aggressive and hard to kill. It was also very mutative, constantly changing its stripes, so to speak, and making it hard for the immune system to even see it as an enemy. There were already several tumor lines growing in the same mass. Even if she was able to target all of the tumor cell lines with her 'smart bomb' antibodies, she couldn't be sure she would get all of them. Even worse, those lines she didn't find would likely be harder to kill and become more aggressive, and the only way the girl would survive is if Tara killed every single tumor cell. If even one survived, it was game over. What it boiled down to was the problem she was working on in her current research; how to kill the cancer cells faster than they could mutate and/or change their surface proteins, making them unrecognizable to her 'smart bomb' antibodies..

The technology wasn't fast enough in these cases, unfortunately. Working in conjunction with Wade's expertise, she had been able to modify some specific laser based sensing devices and use them in a modified mass spectrometer with a computerized firing sequence that would more rapidly spit out the chemical composition of the different expressed antigens, the 'enemy flags' that the cancer cells waved. They all had weird names such as erb-B markers, which were present in Melissa's tumor, a bad sign. There was another bad marker antigen named MYC, which was also bad, but fortunately, this tumor did not show any of those. There were various mixes of several other antigens such as c-myc, myc-N, and neurotrophin-3 like receptor TrKC, and a whole host of other alphabet soup names used for this purpose. In all, it was a mixed hodge podge of combinations of marker antigens, which was going to make the job of killing every single one of them difficult.

In the past, the antibodies were used by injecting the blenderized cancer cells into mice, whose immune systems naturally produced antibodies to them. The mouse antibodies were used as the targeting immunotherapy against the tumors in patients. Nowadays, Tara had more advanced methodologies like synthetically producing the targeting antibodies using a molecular bioprotein assembler, an invention both Tara and Wade had developed together, and which was the main reason why she was the lead investigator in this field.

The bottom line was that, she could produce a tailor made immunotherapy drug for the tumor in a few hours instead of days to weeks, and it would specifically target an individual tumor line to maximum effect with minimal complications, without risking the allergic reaction from repeated use of xenogenic antibodies from mouse or horse sera. The only problem was some tumor lines could mutate or just change their antigen expression sufficiently to nullify the drug's effects even faster than that, and if she didn't catch up, they would become so primitive that no antigen targeted therapy would work on them. It was tricky, because she couldn't target any normal antigens that appeared on normal cells to any great degree or she'd end up killing them, too. That could kill Melissa. And with this advanced, unresponsive tumor, she was afraid she might be too late anyway.

Four more days passed and the number of antigen targeting antibodies in the first treatment Tara had ordered to be created numbered eleven in total. It was then she paid Samantha Daniels a visit to tell them they were ready to treat Melissa. Knocking on the door jamb of the infirmary room, Mrs. Daniels looked up from playing a game of checkers with her daughter and smiled.

"Good morning, Dr. Monroe."

"Good morning, Mrs. Daniels. I have some results for you."

Samantha Daniels got up from the floor and sat down in a nearby chair while Melissa continued to study the checkerboard.

"I see. What do you have?"

"As I had suspected, the tumor is in an advanced stage. We are fortunate that it hasn't caused much more clinical symptomatology than the headaches, her gait problems, and general fatigue. The best way for you to think about this is to see that the tumor has mutated into several different, but related cancers. What we have done here is try to create different drugs, or different antibodies, which will target each one of these different cancers."

"How many different ones have you found?"

"Twenty three at last count."

Mrs. Daniels eyebrows lifted a little at that "Oh, my word. My previous oncologist had estimated only about six, and you were able to come up with a drug for each one?"

"Not right away. There are eleven major cancer lines that seem to be the most aggressive and predominate over the entire tumor. I'm going after them first. I don't want to hit them all at once, to keep complications at a minimum. Now you understand there is a risk of a very strong flu-like reaction when we give these drugs, as well as the possibility of allergic reaction."

"Yes, the other consultants have explained this to me in detail."

"Good. We'll plan on starting this afternoon, then."

Mrs. Daniels sighed, "Okay. Did you hear that, baby?"

"Yes, mommy.", replied the nine-year old in a bored manner, not even looking from the checkerboard, "I'll be ready."

Her mother smirked and turned back to Tara, "She's the old pro now, isn't she?"

They both chuckled. Tara became quiet as she looked at Mrs. Daniels with worry in her eyes.

"There's something you need to know." she said very quietly so that Melissa couldn't hear her, " The chances of this working are only about twenty percent."

Mrs. Daniels smile slowly changed to a grimace.

"And then?"

"Then I'm afraid I will have nothing else to offer."

* * *

Nine days later found her walking towards Ward Six. It was hard enough to recognize that everything she tried had failed, and that the child was not going to survive. When faced with the danger of her own child's possible demise, Tara did not know how she was going to get through it without breaking down herself. Somehow, she managed to come into the ward calm and without any evidence of stress, a state she had managed to cultivate from long experience of dealing with the pain of having to give bad news to grieving parents, especially this close to Christmas.

"Hello, Belinda."

The nurse looked up and greeted her with a smile, "Doctor."

"Is Mrs. Daniels in?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Judging from your expression, I guess we've reached the end of the road, then."

Tara sighed, "It looks that way. Do you have the last scans and antigen studies"

"Right here, Doctor.

She took the clip boards and started looking over the reports. As in the past, her lab work was mostly normal, but there were a few more abnormalities. Her liver function tests were still elevated. There were no other side effects seen, which in a way was actually bad news. The lack of them indicated the body had not responded to the antigen targeting therapy well. As she had feared, the tumor was simply mutating or changing its outside antigen profile rapidly in response to the attempt, and the body was not being stimulated enough to attack the cancer cells and kill them. The most recent MRI scans showed no evidence of tumor death from the enhanced T1/T2 digital subtraction studies. The CSF also showed nothing different. Putting the clipboards down, she let out a very long sigh, knowing what she had to do.

She walked to Melissa's room. For the last two days, she had been experiencing further deterioration of her consciousness, probably from brainstem compression by the tumor. She lay in her bed, near comatose as her mother sat at her bedside, her face drawn heavily with pain.

"Hi, Sam. Anything?"

The two women had long since gone to a first name basis. She turned and looked at Tara with a disfigured smile, pain and greeting within it.

"No. She won't answer when I call her now."

"Yes, I've heard."

Sam looked back at her daughter and broke down crying. Although Tara had yet to tell her there was nothing else to do, it was clear she already knew. She sat down beside her and held her. And she cried, too. Not only for Melissa, but for Jill.

"Oh, God!", she sobbed, "I need Larry so much right now."

"I know, I know.", replied Tara softly.

Even though Sam had expressed continued faith in her husband, he still had not shown. Fortunately, she did not know Jill's situation, which could complicate things further. Tara had left strict instructions that the patients or their families were not to know anything about that. She didn't want that interfering with her interactions with them. As she sat there holding her, Belinda appeared at the door holding another clipboard.

"Doctor.", she said timidly.

Tara looked up and the nurse offered the clipboard. She took it and looked it over, seeing some additional test results which had just come back. She was looking it over seeing nothing more unusual when she looked at the CRP level, and saw it was elevated just slightly. That seemed unusual. She would have expected a big rise, or nothing at all. Next came the studies looking at the compliment system of proteins that were used by the body to attack bacteria and cells to destroy them. Of those, she checked the C3 and C4 levels. They were in normal range, but they were a little lower than at the initial testing. Tara let go of Sam for a minute studying the board closely, her thoughts following the trail of logic.

Drying her tears, Sam looked up questioningly.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Let me check something out."

She looked at Sam and said, "I can't promise anything new here, but I'll be back."

Tara got up and went back out to the nurses station and pushed the com button for the lab. She was quickly answered by the lab tech, Joe MacArthur.

"Hey, Mac, have you got Melissa Daniels' CSF antigen scan there?"

"Yes ma'am, sure do."

"Okay, I want you to do an attack complex compliment fixation study on the tumor cell lines. How long will that take you."

"Uh, give me an hour and a half."

"Do it in an hour and I'll give you a case of Scotch for Christmas."

Mac laughed at her, "Okay, Doc! You got it."

* * *

Fifty minutes later, Tara nervously paced the nurses station. She jumped when the com rang.

Belinda answered it, "Ward Six, Torres speaking."

"This is Mac. Is Dr. Monroe there?"

Tara immediately grabbed the com and answered, "I'm here, Joe. What have you got?"

"Gee, Doc. How did you know? The test was positive."

"Positive?", replied Tara, "How many cell lines were killed?"

"Well, all of them."

"_All of them_?", she cried.

"Yeah, even the minor ones. All of them were coated with compliment. Can you beat that?"

Tara sat there stunned. She did not expect this.

"You owe me a case of scotch now, Doc. Don't forget."

"Mac!", she cried, "You're going to get two of them! 30 year old Glenfarclas! "

"Wow!", he replied, excited and laughing.

Tara cut off the com and went to the computer, typing in orders.

Belinda followed her, asking, "What is it, Doctor? What does it mean?"

"Maybe a chance. Maybe.", she said, furiously punching in data, "It's risky, but it could work."

She finished typing and then turned to Belinda, "Listen. I've ordered some alpha-interferon. It's an older drug which has gone out of style. The pegylated form is the usual type you still see around, because it doesn't cause as many side effects. I don't want that. I want the older form, the alpha. Be sure of this. Be sure to get the alpha formation, not the pegylated one. It may do the trick here. I'm going to try and use it to stimulate the immune system. If it works, I may get a much better response to the antigen targeting drugs.."

"Yes, Doctor."

"We'll need some steroids. Start her on Decadron, eight milligrams IV every eight hours. Wait eight hours after the first dose, then start the interferon. I know you can get it here because Dr. Possible still has a protocol for it in some of her work. The steroids will blunt the side effects from the interferon, and reduce the swelling in the brain, but still, that's going to be the problem."

"What is it?"

"The side effects could still kill her."

* * *

**Now you know why Larry is in the cabin. Was it providence or sheer luck that he was in the right place at the right time to save Jill? The surprise comes towards the end of the story. The next chapter should be up in a few days.**


	5. Of Irony and Daughters

**Author's Note: Perhaps this chapter is a bit predictable as CajunBear 73 has hit it fairly spot on. He's done really well at getting a handle on almost exactly what I am about to do. But I think I still have one or two surprises up my sleeve. Anyway, Jill and Larry go through some revelations about each other, forming a bond of necessity to do what has to be done, but each finding that the other isn't so bad after all.**

**Of Irony and Daughters**

Jill was startled out of a dreamless sleep by the clatter of cookware on the floor beside her. She sat up, bleary-eyed, and focused on the disturbance. She stopped short, hissing in surprise at how much every muscle in her body ached from her ordeal. After a few moments gingerly rubbing her back and legs, she turned her squinting face on Larry rummaging through the racks.

"Sorry about that.", he said, not stopping his search, "I was just trying to get some food."

"Yeah. It's okay.", she replied, running her fingers through the disheveled mess of her hair, followed by rubbing the sleep out of her cheeks.

"I got some pork'n'beans here. How's that sound?"

"Whatever."

"Good enough.", he replied, pulling out the manual can opener and using it.

After replacing the scattered pots, he poured the contents of two cans into the small pot Jill had used for the chili the previous night. She had cleaned it after she used it so it was ready to use. He hung the pot on the spit. Jill saw a new batch of firewood stacked in the corner. He apparently had gone out and retrieved it while she was sleeping.

"What time is it?"

"My chrono says ten in the morning."

"You have a chrono? I thought you were going totally mountain man out here."

"Well.", he smirked, "I haven't entirely gone native."

She groaned as she sat up,"Ten, huh? I slept twelve hours?"

Larry chortled, "Kiddo, after what you've been through, I'm surprised it wasn't more."

"Would have been if you hadn't woke me."

He frowned at her, "Hey, I..."

"Take it easy, Larry.", she interrupted, "I'm not getting on your case. About time I got up anyway."

He relaxed and stirred the beans.

She looked around the shack and asked, "Okay. Where are your, uh, facilities?"

He looked up at her again and nodded his head towards the door, "Plenty of trees out there."

She grimaced at him, "Oh, great!"

"Yeah, and don't let the storm ice your backside up. The wind hasn't hardly died down out there and it's still twenty below at least. God only knows what the wind chill is."

Jill pulled her coat together and headed for the shack's single entrance. She took a deep breath then quickly opened it and dove out, shutting the door behind her just as fast. She was back in two minutes flat, bursting through the door and slamming it shut again, breathing hard, her teeth chattering and arms shaking.

"Oh my God!", she cried, "That _does_ give a whole new meaning to the term 'freezing' your butt off!"

Larry laughed silently to himself, not wishing to look like he was making fun of her.

"I'm sure.", he replied as he started scooping the now piping hot beans into two bowls.

She knelt down in front of the fire and held her hands out to the blaze to warm up. Slowly, she relaxed as the heat reinvigorated her. Once she was comfortable again, he handed her the bowl and spoon and settled down cross-legged on the floor besides the mattress. They ate in silence, and Jill found to her surprise that she was ravenously hungry. The beans were nowhere near enough, but it would have to do.

Since he cooked, Jill took the bowls and utensils and cleaned them up, using the hot pot of water he kept ever going on the spit. She put them aside on the rack to dry. She had no towels, so she used her hands to wipe everything down and wash them off with water into a large bowl, then threw the dirty water out the door. She placed the pots and utensils on the rack to air dry.

Finished, she returned to the mattress and sat down on the edge as Larry lowered himself into the chair and looked off into the distance. They didn't move or speak for some time as the storm continued to blow musically through the shack in threatening tones.

"What now?", she finally asked.

He shrugged.

"We wait.", he said, "Nothing else for it."

She looked at him and saw he was a little jittery now, no longer drunk.

"I thought you stayed warm with alcohol. How come you're not drinking?"

He smiled, "I would be, but I'm out. That was my last bottle last night. I would have stocked up better when I went back into town last time, but I didn't expect to be socked in here like this."

"How long have you been here?"

"This time? About three weeks, I guess."

"This time?"

"Like I said. Sometimes I come out here just to get away from it all."

"Uh-huh. So you own the place?"

"It was my uncle's. I inherited it when he passed."

"Sorry."

"S'okay. It's been a lot of years since then."

Another awkward moment passed. He slowly got up and headed for the door.

"It's my turn to use the 'facilities'. Be back in a minute."

"Yeah."

After Larry closed the door behind him, Jill took stock of her situation, brooding to herself. Past the fact he was a drunk, she couldn't exactly figure him out. She was still sure he hadn't abused her, and the curious thing was he was both seemingly self-destructive and yet genuinely concerned about her well-being. He was filthy, unwashed, but his nails were still well manicured and his teeth were perfect, so none of that seemed to have been going on for a long time. She got up and looked around the shack. The stonework fireplace occupied the center of the far wall with the two rough made wooden racks to each side. In the corner to the left was the stack of firewood, the empty liquor bottles lying around it. To the right was the table and the lone chair that accompanied it, made roughly out of unvarnished wood, greyed and worn, yet sturdy enough.

Back to the left side, against the wall was a small bookcase with several volumes in it. On top were a few knickknacks. Nothing there told her much of anything about him. The opposite wall of the shack from the fireplace had the one door and the one small window, covered by a heavy crude canvas curtain that easily blocked out the light except for the little that leaked by the edges. The only other light given out was from the fire itself. The old mattress, stained and dilapidated occupied most of the floor space, which made it a little hard to get around. There were no pictures, no indications of any kind of his family. The only thing that adorned the crude walls was a rough made wooden cross that hung over the fireplace.

Looking over the bookcase more closely, she was surprised. There were a few mystery novels there, some books by Tom Clancy. 'Who is Tom Clancy?', she wondered. But most of them were religious in nature. that seemed completely out of character with Larry as far as she knew him, but then she really knew nothing about him. There were books by people she had never heard of, except Billy Graham. She heard about him in comparative religion studies. But the others with names like T.D Jakes, Joshua Cochran and some others, were unknown to her. This was puzzling as she couldn't see him as the religious type at all. Taking down one of the books, she started to leaf through it when she noted there was a book mark in it. Curious, she turned to that page to read it. Quickly scanning, it was talking about marriage and family, quoting a verse from the bible. It was heavily marked and outlined, and Jill wondered why he had done that, so she read it.

Outside, Larry was just finishing his business when he heard the wolves wail through the blinding snow and screaming wind. He stopped and listened carefully, making sure he could pinpoint their location. Then he cupped his hands and held them up to his mouth, letting loose a long howl in return. The baleful wails that returned told him they heard him. He nodded in satisfaction and turned to go back to the shack.

Jill read the passage again.

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things-that she might be holy and faultless. Even so husbands should love their wives as (being in a sense) their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and carefully protects and cherishes it, as Christ does the church. Because we are members (parts) of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning (the relation of) Christ and the church. However, let each man of you (without exception) love his wife (being in a sense) his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband-that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him and loves and admires him exceedingly" (Ephesians 5: 25-33, Amplified Bible).

Deciphering the wording was difficult for her. First, this was different bible than the one she was used to reading... ...when she did read it. It certainly give her any indication why Larry had marked the passage in the first palce. Heck, she was having a hard time just trying to fit this slovenly dirty middle aged drunk as someone who valued scripture at all. She did understand the basic gist of the passage though. She couldn't think of a more devoted couple than her own parents, or 'Aunt' Kim and 'Uncle' Ron. She didn't like the words 'defers to' though, on the part of the woman. It sounded too much like being totally submissive. But her interest was diverted by something else as she noticed the small card which he used as the bookmark. She didn't realize it at first, but it was the back of a small photograph. She turned it over to see it was a picture of a woman and a girl. The woman had short brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing a stylish turtleneck. Next to her was a girl of about eight or nine also smiling into the camera. She definitely looked like the woman, obviously her daughter. But something was wrong with her. She looked sick despite her eager smile. Her light brown hair was very thin as if it was falling out and her face looked slightly sunken in. There were circles around her eyes which looked out of place.

Without warning, the door opened and Larry literally threw himself back into the cabin and out of the cold, slamming the door quickly and beating his hands around himself to get the snow off and help warm himself up again. When he turned and saw Jill, he stopped abruptly. The look on his face was not pleasant. Jill froze in place, afraid.

"Give me that.", he said very quietly.

He knew what he was talking about. Jill could hear the anger in his voice, steaming hot, but controlled. Slowly, she closed the book and placed it back in the bookcase. She got up, walked over to him, and handed him the photograph. He took the picture, staring hard at it a moment with an aching, clenched jaw. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he put it in the breast pocket of his coat.

"I'm sorry.", she said, "I really wasn't trying to snoop, just looking for something to read."

His anger quickly dissipated away as he sat back down in the chair, looking off in the distance, "It's okay. No harm done."

"I didn't take you for the church going type."

"Yeah, I get that a lot from people."

"My parents try to go as much as they can, but it's really hard for them to make it there most of the time."

"Most folks do seem to have that problem."

He remained taciturn and distant. She didn't know what to say, but the photograph bothered her. She wanted to know.

"She's your daughter, isn't she?"

Larry looked up straight at her.

"Yes."

"What's the..."

"She's got cancer!", he shouted, startling her. She jumped back a step, frightened again.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean.", Jill cried with wet eyes, backing away.

"No. Wait. Look, I'm sorry.", he said ruefully, his face softening, "I didn't mean to jump down your throat like that. It's just..."

He looked away and added, more softly he added, "She's got brain cancer."

A pang of regret and sympathy rushed through Jill. For a moment, she could only stare.

"Oh, my God. I'm... ...I'm so sorry, Larry. Really. Is that why you're here?"

Abruptly, he looked at her again in anger, his reply hrash.

"Look, I told you! I don't want to talk about it. So butt out!"

He turned away and walked off to the other end of the shack. but his outburst stunned and confused Jill. She stood there shaking. It wasn't so much she feared him. She was afraid she had provoked him unnecessarily. Now she wasn't sure what the limits of her actions should be. Cautious of his reaction, she didn't say anything for several moments. She had the answer as to why he was here in the middle of this desolation trying to drink himself into oblivion. What she couldn't understand is how he could continue to do so and not be with his family. She wanted to know. But how was she going to draw him out? Then she realized, she knew the answer. An even exchange, even though it was hard for to even talk about that. But she was sure it could not be anywhere near as bad as what he was going through, and something made her want to know.

"My boyfriend dumped me.", she said quietly.

He looked back at her, puzzled.

"What?"

"My boyfriend. He dumped me."

He blinked his eyes a couples of times in amazement before he answered.

"Are you kidding me?", he said, "You put yourself in the middle of the freaking blizzard of the century and almost certain death because some snot nosed high school kid didn't think you were good enough for him?"

That stung her. Wide-eyed and shocked, she looked away, not wanting him to see her cry, but the tears were already coming down her face.

Larry got up, instantly regretting his words, a softness coming back into his manner and speech, "Jill. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound that harsh. It's just that... ...really, it was such a silly thing to do."

She stifled a sob and wiped her tears away, managing to control herself better.

After taking a deep breath, she said, "You're right. I was so dumb about that. The guy's a total jerk. I see that now. It's just that by the time I realized it, it was already mile marker 342."

"Hate to say it, kid, but your timing stinks."

"Yeah, you can..."

"...say that again!", he finished saying with her, then he added, "I know."

They both laughed, Jill able to do it even through her tears.

"I really am sorry, Jill."he said afterwards, "I don't mean to be a jackass. But I do know how a first love can go horribly wrong sometimes. The first one I ever had was, well, it was a complete disaster."

"You dumped her?"

"No, but I really screwed it up, bad."

"Oh? How bad?"

Larry Daniels looked at her with as haunted a look as she had ever seen.

"As bad as it can get."

"And tha-"

"It's not important now.", he cut in, "It was a long time ago. Look, about your boyfriend. If you want to talk..."

Somehow, the look on his face beckoned her. There was a kindness there, as if from a kindred soul, like he knew exactly what she was going through, because he had gone through it, too. Her face was sad, the memories freshly resurrected in her mind, and she let go.

"I thought he was so perfect."

For the next half hour, she poured her heart out as Larry listened quietly. Every now and then, she would start to cry again, and he would wait patiently until she gathered herself together again and continued. When she finished, he was quiet for a long time before he spoke.

"You did the right thing, Jill. He was only looking for sex, that's all.", he said quietly, "You were worth nothing to him. Look, I'd like to give you a piece of advice. I'm not trying to put you down, but you really are too young to know what love really is. Very few people your age do. Teenagers always associate love with their emotions more than anything. That's to be expected. It's fresh. It's new. But I would like you to try and understand something.

"You're right that I consider myself religious. I was born again right after high school, and have been that way ever since. I met my wife in church, and I love her and my daughter as much as I love God. I didn't understand it at first either, but the older I got, I found out that real love is more about character than about emotions. Emotions change with time. Character doesn't. When you understand love is based more on that and what that means, it will endure."

She looked at him through tear stained eyes, her eyebrows furrowing, "I... ...I'm not quite sure what you mean."

"It's okay if you don't get that right now. I just want you to think about it. That's all. Believe me when I say it usually takes those people who truly understand it a long time before they do. That's why young people tend to have such a hard time with it, I think. But I hope in time you will see what I mean."

"Is that what happened to your first love?"

He grimaced hard and looked at the floor a long time before he answered, "Yeah. She was ready, but I wasn't. I didn't understand, and I hurt her horrendously because of that. I hadn't grown up enough."

She stared, not knowing how to respond, but accepted as logical that he was probably right, that maybe in time it would come to her. It certainly was sincere and sounded like good advice. She was glad she did this. It did help, But she did have a slightly ulterior motive originally. And since she had bared her own soul, it felt right to try and find out about him. She wanted to know more, and now for a good reason.

"Thanks, Larry. I'll do that. But I want to ask you more about you, if it's okay. You see, I think that maybe I can help your daughter."

His eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about?"

"My Mom's a doctor. She's a specialist in children's cancers."

Larry sighed, closing his eyes, "Look. That's really very sweet of you, Jill, but it's too late."

She suddenly paled, frowning, as she tentatively asked, "Oh, no! You mean, she's... ...gone?"

"No, no.", he answered quickly, opening his eyes again, his face full of resignation, "But we've been to every specialist we can find who might have helped. Every treatment we've tried has failed. The only thing left was the experimental stuff and I am really scared of it. I don't want to put her through anything more that isn't going to help. She's exhausted and so tired of it all."

"But why are you here, now? Why aren't you with her?"

His eyes glazed over wetly as he looked at her, then he tore his gaze away and stared into the fire, one tear running down his face before he answered, "Because I gave in to despair, because I thought there was nothing I could have done to prevent her from dying. So I ran, like a coward. I've been trying to drown myself in the booze for the last three weeks until yesterday when I finally came to my senses. I was trying to figure out a way to get back to town when you hit my door."

She paled as she realized what that cost him.

"And because you had to take care of me, you lost your chance to go back."

He shook his head, "No, Jill, no. Don't blame yourself for that. The roads were already too bad. I would have never made it anyway. If I was going to get back, I should have gone back much earlier. But then, I'm glad I didn't. You wouldn't have survived."

She smiled weakly and ducked her head, not sure he was being truthful.

She raised her head and said, "But it'll only be a few days before we can get back, right? I still think my Mom can help. She's doing some really cutting edge stuff and does experimental treatments, too."

Larry looked at her kindly, appreciative of her concern, but it was clear he didn't think it would help...

"That's really great of you, kiddo.", he said gently, "But my wife was looking at all the top experimental centers before I left. There were several research centers throughout the country she was thinking about taking her. She chose one she wanted to try before I left. But Melissa, my daughter, was so tired. She didn't want to go through any more of it. I don't know if Samantha would have been able to convince her to go."

"We can find out once we get back."

"Yeah, maybe we can do that.", he responded thoughtfully, "Tell you what? Let's find out how the storm is going."

He got up and went to the rough wooden rack on the other side of the fireplace, searching through the junk piled up there.

There was a small box like contraption which he pulled out. Jill recognized it as an old style battery operated radio.

She stared at it and said, "You really have a thing for antiques, don't you?"

He chuckled, "Not really. It was my uncle's. Why?"

"It's just that if it had been a video unit, we could have used the interactive connections to call for help."

He smiled, "Yeah. But that was the point of this place for me. I didn't want to have any of that stuff up here because when I'm here, I don't want anybody talking to me or getting hold of me. The price I pay for that is I can't get hold of anybody else either, but of course, that was no loss, since I wanted to be left alone. So I never brought any of that stuff up here."

He sighed heavily again, "God bless her. Samantha always understood when I needed to get away. She never complained. But I've never been gone anywhere near this long either. She must be worried sick by now."

He turned the old radio on. There was some sort of receiver attached to the top, made of a more modern design, though it too looked a little dated. Jill suspected it was a translator of some sort for a satellite radio signal. Ground based towers had been phased out many years back in favor of satellite transmission for all radio programming. They listened for awhile to a weather channel until they got more news about their area.

"...and it looks like the weather is going to continue to be nasty in the Great Plains and east of the Rockies, folks. That huge cold front that came in last night brought the worst blizzard we've seen in ages, and it looks like it's about to get a boost. Everything down to the Texas Panhandle is socked in with snow. A second cold front is now blowing in down from the north, and it looks like the gale force winds will continue to blow at least for the next two to three days, so everybody better dig in and keep warm..."

Jill groaned, "Great!"

Larry sighed, "That was the original forecast, too. Guess we didn't catch the break after all."

"Yeah.", she said, frustrated, "Can you get any other channel on that thing?"

"No.", he replied, "Now that all communications are digital, they've discontinued FM and reassigned the wavelengths on that band. This is the only remaining frequency in the band that is still used for FM broadcast, and it's there just as a public service. It's the only thing I use it for anyway."

She frowned, still frustrated.

"Well, I guess we wait, then."

"Yeah."

They sunk into silence again and moped around the cabin for a time. Jill started glancing around the shack with a lost look on her face.

"You could read some books.", Larry suggested.

"Uh-huh." she said, disinterested, "I don't really read hard copy, you know."

Larry chuckled, "I can imagine. Most kids your age are so glued to their computer screens, they wouldn't know what a book was if it hit them."

Irritated, she looked at him askance, "Hey! We're not that bad."

"No, you're not.", he said, still laughing, "But it's almost true."

"Well.", she said, now eyeing the book case a little more, "What do you recommend?"

"Hmmm, I always get a great lift out of Billy Graham."

"Uh, not exactly what I was thinking."

He smiled, "It's okay. You'd have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it."

"Anything else?"

"You might try the Tom Clancy novels."

* * *

Later that evening, Jill was about halfway through _The Hunt for Red October_ when Larry began to stir from his nap on the mattress. He decided to take a nap while she sat up in the chair to read. The book surprised her, actually finding it interesting. Espionage didn't really appeal to her, but she liked how well the technical aspects of the novel were handled. And it was interesting to get an idea of what the Cold War was like, even in fiction. She always did like history.

Larry groaned a moment before getting up to the side of the mattress and running his fingers through his hair and beard. Looking around, he saw Jill sitting in the chair.

"Everything okay?", he asked hoarsely.

"Uh-huh.", she answered quietly, momentarily looking at him and then returning to reading the paperback.

He nodded, then slowly got up and headed for the door.

"Be back in a sec.", he said, and then exited the door.

The wind roared through with a heavy snow flurry like before, the snow flakes settling quickly on the wooden floor and melting as soon as the door was shut again. Jill kept on reading as she heard the wolves howl through the evening chill, one call seeming to come from very close. He came back in about five minutes later, quickly entering and shutting the door, holding a bowl with snow in it. He settled back down cross-legged on the mattress and reached over for a tin cup on one of the wooden racks. He poured himself some of the boiling water from the pot over the fire and dumped some of the snow in it to cool it down. Once he got it down to a warm feel, he began to drink it. He dumped the rest of the snow into the boiling pot. Looking back at the fire, he noticed the wood pile was getting low.

"I'm going to have to go out and get some more wood tonight some time.", he said softly, "I think I've got enough to last about a week, out behind the shack."

"Do you need some help bringing it in?", "Jill asked.

He smiled back at her, "Thanks, but I got it covered.'

"I heard wolves out there."

Larry smiled to himself, "Yeah. They should be trying to hunker down for the duration of the storm, but they must be really hungry and looking for a straggler somewhere. You know they can track even through this weather."

Jill frowned to herself, "Gee, what would be out there now?"

"You'd be surprised what gets caught out there, like us, huh?", he said with a grin, "Anyway, the wind might die down a little tomorrow. In the morning, I'm going to see if I can get my shovel and start to dig the Range Rover out of the snow."

"What good will that do? We can't use it until the roads are cleared by the snow plows. That could take a week."

"Doesn't hurt to be ready. Besides, we may only have to go a few miles further south to the Sandidge place. We might get lucky."

She studied him a good while as he continued to sip at his warm water.

"You really want to get back home, too, huh?", she asked.

He looked up at her with a cold stare, which momentarily frightened her, but his eyes softened.

"Yeah.", he replied quietly, "Yeah, I do. I have to, now."

"Yeah.", Jill murmured back.

The wind started to kick up more and a cold breeze snuck through the cracks in the walls of the cabin, chilling them both for a few seconds before the fire's heat managed to push it away again. The boards of the old shack moaned in tune with the wind's howl, and a loud snap unexpectedly came out of the rafters. They both looked up sharply, wondering.

"That wasn't right.", said Larry apprehensively.

"What wasn't right?", she asked, frightened.

He got up and started inspecting various parts of the vaulted roof. It had been built with a large beam going across the very top, held up with two A-frame supports on the sides. The boards slatted in and were covered with tar paper and regular shingles. Jill could see the various points of the roofing nails thrusting through the boarding. There was no other covering or ceiling there. Larry walked around a couple of times staring and probing. Then he looked at one of the A-Frame structures closely and peered at it."

"I need the flashlight.", he said.

"Where is it?"

"In the Range Rover. I going to get it."

Jill looked at him in consternation, "But the weather's too bad out there! It's almost dark."

"All the more reason to get it now. I can get to it pretty quickly. All I have to do is get enough snow out of the way to open the door."

"I'll come with you."

"Jill, you don't need to. I can get it."

She put the book down and got up, pulling her coat around her, "Look, if I help, we'll get the job done in half the time, and we can both be back in here with the heat."

He looked at her a moment trying to find a reason to object, but saw her logic.

"Okay, come on. I have a spare shovel to use."

On the count of three, he pulled the door open and they both flew out into the maelstrom. They slogged through the drifts around to the back of the shack. Larry reached over to the wall and fumbled around among several poles of greyed wood sticking out of a snow drift that covered the side of the cabin. Jill could see they were tool handles after a moment. Soon he was able to separate out two shovels and handed one to her. The Range Rover was parked up against the shack and the snow had packed in between, connecting the two together in a huge snow bridge. Larry and Jill slogged over to the other side. Through the roar of the wind he shouted, then motioned at her where to dig, and they got to work. Furiously shoving the snow away, they soon made contact with the truck body and then focused on the one area where the door was. It took about five minutes, but they were able to clear enough snow out of the way for the door to open.

Larry grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it. At first it wouldn't budge, but then he strained as hard as he could and succeeded at moving it, the handle squeaking loudly. He pulled hard. The door still resisted him. Jill joined in and helped pull at the door. After three good tries they pulled it open enough to get inside. Larry climbed in quickly, followed by Jill. He sat in the passenger seat and started fumbling around in the glove compartment. He was rewarded by finding the Mag-Lite for which he was searching. He pulled it out and switched it on. Smiling, he shined it at Jill for a moment and then looked around the inside of the Rover. The interior was decorated heavily with a sports theme, specifically one team.

"So you're a Nuggets fan, huh?", asked Jill.

Larry laughed as he felt around the back seat, looking for something, "Yeah, you could say that."

"Life long?"

"Most of it. Ah, here it is."

He pulled back into the passenger seat with his prize. It was a bag with several plastic sealed wrappers containing beef jerky.

"I knew I had those around somewhere!", he said happily, "You like jerky?"

"Uh, not really.", Jill said, "But, hey, it's food."

"Got that right, girl. Let's get back inside."

He turned off the Mag-Lite, and they climbed back out of the Range Rover and with both of them pushing, they closed the car door and shut it. They tossed the shovels back among the others tools and slogged as quickly as they could back to the front of the shack, stumbling back in and slamming the cabin door shut as quickly as possible. Shivering together, they huddled as close to the fire as was safe to do so, toasting their hands for several minutes before they finally were warm again.

Larry got up and tossed the jerky down on the table, taking the flashlight. He went back to the A-Frame section on the side of the shack and turned the Mag-Lite on, pointing the beam up at it and peering intently. He still couldn't see what he wanted, so he came back and got the chair and placed it against the wall, climbing on and looking closer at the roof structure with the flashlight.

"Damn!", he said.

"What is it?", she asked in concern.

"The A-Frame is cracked here.", he replied, "It's got to be all the snow on the roof. The shack wasn't meant to take that kind of weight on it."

"Can't you get up there and shovel it off?"

"I can't now!", he said, exasperated. "It would take too long and the weather's too bad for me to last more than ten minutes out there. And I can't do it in the dark. The other problem is just getting up there with my weight could bring the whole thing down on us."

"So what do we do?"

"Wait until tomorrow, and hope she holds up the rest of the night. In the light I should be able to stand on the Range Rover and clear some of it off."

"But what if the shack doesn't hold up?", Jill asked with real fear in her voice.

He looked at her seriously, "Then we have to make a run for it through the snow."

"Where?"

Larry hesitated a moment before answering.

"Old man Sandidge's place, to the south."

"But you said that was several miles away. Isn't there any place closer? I thought there were some houses down the road."

Larry shook his head, "No. There is one abandoned shack about three miles to the West, but it's got nothing that can help us. But more imporantly, You know those wolves you mentioned?."

"You mean.?

"Yeah, those wolves. They're too close. They might be converging on us."

"How? Why would they be out there now?"

"They can probably smell the fire, or even our scents. They're too hungry, I guess.", Larry said with a shrug, "All I know is, if we end up out there, our best bet is to the south. That pack of wolves normally ranges much farther to the north. They've been around for years, and I hear them all the time, but never this close. However, I've never heard them to the south of me, and that's where Sandidge is."

"How far to Sandidge's place?"

"Four point three miles to be exact."

Jill blanched as she stared at him. She looked up at the roof, a strained look on her face.

"Don't let it get to you, Jill. There's nothing we can do about it anyway."

"Okay... ...yeah.", she whispered nervously, still looking at the roof, "I'll try."

"Good", he said, "I'm going to get my knapsack ready just in case, as an emergency thing. Then, I think we should get some rest."

"Sure."

"I've got a couple of parkas. They're both oversized for you, but one of them will protect you a lot better than that light coat you have."

Jill nodded numbly at him, her face creased with anxiety. The shack continued to creak loudly as the wind gusted. Jill didn't move until the unwelcome noise had subsided, then tentatively went over to the mattress and sat on the edge as Larry went and found a small knapsack and started to stuff it. The flashlight went in along with the beef jerky, a few first aid supplies he had around, and a couple of the can goods with pop tops. When he was finished he placed the knapsack next to the mattress and sat down next to Jill, both of them now warming their hands again from the fire.

He turned to her with a smile and said, "Hey, don't worry. We'll be fine. It'll hold up. Then I'll clear the snow off tomorrow."

She looked back at him with wide eyes, "Larry, if we have to leave, what are our chances?"

He answered her with a puzzled look, a slight anguish hidden in the creases of his face.

"Not too good, actually. Unless the storm breaks and we get clear weather, then I think we'll do fine. But really, it's going to be all right. You don't have to worry."

It wasn't enough to take the fear out of her eyes.

"I"m scared, Larry. I want to see my family again."

Larry put an arm around her shoulders, gently holding her to him, "I know you do, Jill. I know. I want to see my family, too. I have to go back and see Melissa again. I've got to see her before... ...before it's time."

He swallowed hard and let go of her, ducking his head slightly. He took a deep breath and said, "You have to have faith, Jill. That's all I have now. It's helped me before when I had nothing. And it's never let me down."

"I can understand that."

He looked at her, "Do you have faith?"

"You mean, do I pray? Yes I do. I've just never needed it this much before, I guess."

"I'm not saying that you should pray. If you do, that's great. Every person has his or her own way of communing with God. I just wanted to know if you have a way to keep the despair at bay."

"I think I do. I'm okay."

He smiled at her, "Good, good. We should get some rest. Tomorrow I can try and get some of that snow cleared off. And hopefully the storm will start to let up."

She studied him closely, this smelly, unshaven hairy man who looked like a bum, who had an only daughter dying of cancer far away from him, who very likely would never be able to see her again judging from what he said, yet he was trying to comfort her...

"Larry.", she asked," Did your wife take your daughter to get that experimental treatment you were talking about?"

"I don't know.", he sighed, "She had made up her mind that if she did, and Melissa agreed, she was going. I hadn't said okay before I left, but it is okay with me now. There was one particular specialist she had picked out, that she discussed with me before I took off..."

A very worried look came over his face as he hesitated. Something was not right there, Jill thought, but she couldn't tell what.

Larry went on, "I believe she would have done it though. Samantha will do everything she can to save her."

"Well, maybe she took her already."

"I don't know. I hope so. I just couldn't go through all that again, especially with the way Melissa hurts during chemo."

"What specialist did Samantha choose?"

"She's a top leading researcher at the Team Possible Medical Center.", he said very quietly, "Her name is Dr. Tara Monroe."

Jill gasped and stared wide-eyed at him.

"Oh my god, Larry! She's the best there is!"

He looked at her strangely, 'You know her? You..."

He gaped, staring at her, stunned, " Oh Lord. I am such an idiot! I didn't realize when you said you came from Middleton and your mother was a doctor."

His face changed as recognition came to him.

"I'm sorry, Larry!", she cried, "I lied! My name isn't Masick! It's Guberman! Dr. Tara Monroe is my mother!"

Larry Daniels shot up from the mattress staring at her, "Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord, you look just like... ...like her picture I saw on the internet. You really are her daughter?"

He stumbled away to the edge of the table, overwhelmed with emotion. Jill got up and came to him. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she said excitedly, "Listen to me! I'm sure if your wife got Melissa to my mother, she's got the best chance of surviving! My mother really is the best there is in this field! She'll get the best care in the world at TPMC!"

He looked back at her, his shocked eyes full of wonder and tears.

"It's just the irony.", he croaked, "My daughter's life rests in your mother's hands, and her daughter's life rests in mine."

* * *

**Search and Rescue returns in the next chapter... ...as well as the face of the enemy.**


	6. Gathering the Fates

**Author's Note: I have taken some liberties in including some Season Four canon into the story as you will see closer to the end of this chapter. The Yono will put in an appearance. However, think of that character being here without the "OhNo! Yono!" episode ever having taken place at all. At the risk of interjecting "Deus ex machina" properties into the story, Samantha Daniels' financial sitch will rival Ron's, but it is an important element for the sake of the story. The conflict approaches...**

**The Gathering Fates**

Two days.

Two agonizing days.

Stunned into stone faced silence and dread, Tara could not find any comfort to dispel her fear. Kevin and James were not much better, stumbling around the guest quarters like zombies. Even Kim and Ron were beside themselves. They hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours, trying everything they could think of to track Jill through the storm, but it was impossible to conduct any kind of a meaningful scan through all that cloud cover and turbulence, and nothing had turned up in the search to the west or southwest even though Kim doubled the number of Sunhawks, and had resumed searching to the other points of the compass by adding ten more Sunhawks to the force, just in case they had been wrong about which way Jill had gone.

Tara no longer cried. She had no tears left. The only thing left was the numb state of fear that pervaded every fiber of her being. Kevin was visibly even more deeply worried about her. He had asked his partners to cover for him at Middleton Medical Center, so he could stay with his wife and son at TPMC guest quarters, trying to be an anchor to them as much as he could. The cable news was kept on all the time, hoping that some word of Jill might be picked up. James remained very quiet throughout, scared for his sister, and very troubled on the effect this was having on his parents. Tara never left the bedroom, except when she had to make rounds on her three patients. Dr. Possible had offered to cover for her, but Tara said no. The Chief of Staff was an world renowned surgeon and physician, but the advanced experimental chemotherapy was not her field. Tara was the only one who could do that, and now it was time to make those rounds again. Slowly she got dressed, took her stethoscope, and headed for Ward Six.

Things were not good there, either. As Tara had feared, the interferon treatment she ordered the previous day had hit Melissa like a sledge hammer. Three hours after the first dose, she began to have rigors and high fevers up to 104 degrees. She shook uncontrollably. Her breathing became ragged. The blood pressure became erratic and her pulse was fast and thready. The decadron dose was doubled to try and combat this, but to little avail. Now, almost twenty four hours later, the little girl was on full intravenous blood pressure support, intubated, and on artificial respiratory support. Tara was glad for one thing. The magnetic bottle respirator, which had replaced the old external mechanical ones, generated a stereotactic magnetic field which was able to selectively grab hold onto her diaphragm and move it up and down, negating any need for intubation and positive pressure ventilation with all of its deleterious effects. The only thing needed was a maintenance airway insert in her mouth to keep her oropharynx open and allow her to keep breathing.

Tara had been completely accurate about what the effect of the interferon on her might have been, more right than she wanted to be. In terms of any benefit it might have, the most recent magnetic resonance imaging scan with the T1/T2 3D digital gadolinium enhanced subtraction images were showing massive cell death all along the tumor's borders. Re-examination of the CSF showed dying and degenerating cancer cells from all of the cell lines they could find. She had already ordered the bicarbonate drip to alkalinize her urine and minimize the threat of a tumor lysis syndrome which could shut her kidneys down, despite the low risk of it. Fortunately, they were doing well. It really was a wonder her kidney function was still holding up. Repeated studies of the blood's compliment system revealed multiple attack complexes fatally ripping into the cancer cell membranes. But the reaction of the body to this had also produced a severe swelling of the brain that threatened to kill Melissa all by itself. She was so close to the edge. Any little thing could completely collapse her blood pressure, and that would be the end.

Samantha sat on the edge of Melissa's bed, holding her daughter's hand. She was never found elsewhere now. The girl was completely unresponsive to pain stimuli. Her brow was covered with sweat and she looked toxic and acutely ill, her skin almost grey. From time to time, her mother would wipe her face with a wash towel, and nearby was a cooling blanket in case her temperature got any worse.

Tara looked into the room, her anxiety threatening to overwhelm her, but she steeled herself and put everything else in her mind outside for the moment as she walked in and placed her hands on Sam's shoulders from behind, looking at the computerized readouts of Melissa's vitals and other stats in the wall monitor. Ironically, the monitor always reminded her of that old television series _Star Trek _and the bedside 'medical scanner' they dreamed up for that show. She had always been mildly amused that they never dreamed that somehow medical science would come up with something like that scanner a full two hundred years earlier than they predicted. Focusing on the scanner, Tara saw Melissa's vitals were stable, at least for her present condition. The amounts of pressor medicines being used for BP support were not too great. She still had a little wiggle room to increase them if she needed it. But the heart rate was still high at one fifty, clamoring along like a triphammer.

"How are you, Sam?", she said softly.

Sam reached up and held on to Tara's hand, nodding in answer. Her cheeks were dry. She too was empty of tears.

"She hasn't gotten any worse at least.", she said in a whisper, "Is there anything more we can do?"

Sam couldn't see her, but could feel the answer. Tara shook her head slowly as she replied, "No. It's purely a waiting game now. I've already thrown in the kitchen sink."

Sam bit her lower lip and nodded again. "I assumed as much. I only wish Larry was here."

Tara sighed, and a thought came to her, "Do you know where he is?"

Sam hesitated before answering, as if she wasn't sure she should say, but replied, "There have been times in the past when Larry has gotten so stressed out that he had to get away. He would disappear to think things through, to get his head on straight. He would only be gone about two or three days at a time when he does. But this time... ...well, I guess losing Melissa is too much for him.."

"But you know where he is?"

"I'm pretty sure.", she said deliberately, thoughtful, "His uncle left him a piece of property up in the mountains west of Middleton. There's an old run down shack up there, where he likes to hang out when he needs to be alone. I've only been up there once and let me tell you, it is terrible. No electricity. No running water. No toilet. I told him he ought to tear it down and build something more convenient, but he always said that was the way he liked it, just roughing his way through. I can't imagine what it would be like in this blizzard, but if he's there, it has a pretty good fireplace and it should keep him warm until it all blows through. I just hope Melissa holds out until he can get back."

Tara shuddered, thinking, 'God, please let Jill find someplace like that.'

Sam sensed a change go through Tara from the touch of her hands on her shoulders. She looked up at her and asked, "Are you okay, Tara?"

Tara quickly calmed herself down and smiled, saying, "I'm fine. I'm just a little cold, that's all. Listen, I could talk to Kim Possible. She might be able to get someone out there to check and see if Larry's out there."

Hope springing into Sam's eyes. She stood up and faced Tara, asking, "Really? So you really do know her that well?"

"She's a dear friend of mine.", Tara said, smiling widely.

"And do you think she could find him?"

Tara replied, "Hey, like they say, she can do anything."

Sam gasped softly, saying, "Oh my gosh! If you could, that would be great!"

"No big, Sam. I'll go see her now.", Tara replied as she embraced her gently. She released Sam and was about to walk out of the room when Sam spoke up again, her voice tentative.

"Tara..."

Tara turned and looked at her expectantly.

"Yes?"

"I hope.", Sam said hesitantly, "I hope that when Larry comes, that you'll not prejudge him too harshly."

Puzzled, Tara looked at her strangely, wondering why she was worried about that.

"Sam, that's not going to happen. I do understand the awful pain that this is putting both of you through. It can make people react in unexpected ways."

Sam stood up and came over to her, placing a hand on her arm.

"I know that, Tara, and you've been wonderful.", she said, her eyes tearing up again, " I just want you to keep that in mind, when he finally makes it here, please..."

Tara reached over, squeezed her hand, and nodded.

"I will, Sam. Don't worry."

It was true she felt some initial repugnance at her husband's actions, but she had long since dismissed it, reserving judgment because of the extraordinary circumstances and Sam's own defense of him. She smiled broader, and squeezed her hand once more in affirmation, then turned and left the room, Sam watching her all the way with worried eyes. Stopping at the nurses station, Tara checked the latest test results with the charge nurse, but found nothing that would change the standing orders. It truly was a waiting game now. She gave some further maintenance instructions and then left the ward. The charge nurse was busy writing the new orders down when she heard a light noise at the counter and looked up to find Samantha Daniels standing there.

"May I help you, Mrs. Daniels?"

Sam smiled quickly and replied, "Yes. I just wanted to let you know that I will be leaving to go back to my room to get cleaned up. I also have some other things to attend to, and then I'll return. I don't expect to be gone longer than an hour. You have my com ID in case anything happens, Correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. I will call you immediately if there are any developments."

"Thank you. I won't be too long.", she said as she walked out of the ward. The nurse watched her go with a quizzical look, incidentally noting in her mind that this was the first time she had left her daughter's presence like this in several days.

* * *

Tara went back to the Team Possible operations section, soon reaching Kim's office. She was about to knock when she looked inside and saw Kim at her desk. She was about to announce herself but stopped short when she noticed her friend sprawled forward onto her arms over the desktop, quietly asleep. It struck her how much she looked like a small child, the way she was draped over the top of that huge piece of furniture. The incongruity of her relatively diminutive size struck Tara as ironic, and she stood there a minute considering that incongruity. She was of average height as was Tara, weighed no more than 120 pounds, even if it was solid muscle. But of course, there was no correlation between her size and her abilities, much less her accomplishments. To reaffirm that, she looked over the walls of the office to see the evidence of all she had accomplished in twenty-four plus years of service as a crime fighter.

It really was hard to think that it had been twenty four years. Kim looked no different now than she did back then. Oh, sure, she had some crow's feet next to her eyes when she smiled real wide, and her face didn't have that baby fat look to it any more, certainly not at age forty-two, but other than that, she looked virtually the same as she did the day they graduated high school. She found herself still so envious of that.

Tara looked at Kim again. She had pushed some papers away to make room to lay her head down, but there were piles of it stacked around the edges, the bane of paperwork with which she became plagued when she became part of the government, and which was why she needed that large desk in the first place. But the history of the service she had given ringed her sleeping form. Her walls were bedecked with so many awards and special commendations, even the Medal of Freedom, the highest award for bravery given to a civilian. She also remembered about ten years ago, there were some members of Congress who wanted to somehow bypass the requirement of membership in the military to award her a Medal of Honor, but Kim herself nixed that idea as ludicrous.

There were pictures of her standing with Presidents, Senators, foreign leaders of all sorts, and other dignitaries, many with Ron as well. It reminded Tara again of the spectacular career Kim had achieved. Ron's fortune had set up Team Possible early on in their senior year, and it had steadily grown since then. Tara could remember attending her classes at Dartmouth and every now and then hearing some news program on a video or her old I-pod exclaiming the latest victory on the war on terror which Kim had achieved. Fighting the villains in that war became her main focus once she had pretty much eliminated the threat from the majority of the world's super-villains by the end of her freshman year in college. She remembered warmly when she and Kevin married in the spring of that same year, that Kim took the time off to be a bridesmaid for her, right behind Jessica as the maid of honor. Remarkably, Bonnie, who was behind her, never made a fuss about it the whole time, and did not try to hog the show. When they graduated college, Tara was also there for Kim when she married Ron.

All that time, and ever since, she continued to rack up the commendations and awards. She espied one she remembered vividly, when Kim saved the highest ranking members of the Saudi Royal family during the Wahabi revolt of 2012. She and Ron had personally defended the King against thirty armed attackers. Another plaque proudly announced the appreciation of the Israeli government for foiling the theft of half their nuclear weapon stockpile in 2009, by Chechyen terrorists. It prompted the Israelis to destroy most of that stockpile the next year as it was obsolete. Next to that commendation was the award from the USS Ronald Reagan when the ship was caught in a freak hurricane, and Kim had managed to rescue her by repairing her damaged rudder, with duct tape no less, enabling the huge ship to turn into the wind and stay afloat.

Then the rescue of the eight senators on that fact finding mission to Azerbaijan in 2016 garnered her another plaque, as well as that strange medal from the Flat Earth Society who swore up and down she had proved them right when she rescued them from that freak maelstrom whirlpool in the middle of the seas between Antartica and Argentina. They were trying to prove once and for all that there was an edge of the world from which one could fall off, and they were convinced that giant maelstrom was it. Tara smiled to herself again as she recalled Kim just grinning good-naturedly as she accepted the award, kicking Ron in the shins when he tried to correct them.

Tara looked toward the computer station. This wall was reserved for Kim's most cherished pictures, the ones hanging around the giant plasma screen. Those were of her and her family. The most prominent was her wedding picture with Ron. There were also pictures of them at various vacation spots when they actually had time to take vacations which was rare enough. Her parents were there in a few shots, still a handsome couple although the grey in their hair was definitely coming through. And there was her Nana. Tara remembered Kim once saying that she could have never become the crime fighter she was without her influence and help. Nana was long gone now, but she had lived to a ripe old age of ninety-four and had passed away quietly in her sleep.

Ron himself was in a couple of self portraits that did him very good justice. One showed him in a tuxedo, very well coiffed, smiling confidently into the camera. Another showed him in swim wear hamming it up on a surfboard in Hawaii, but on dry land. Rufus was on his shoulder posturing as much as he was. And of course, there were the children. Both sets of twins were prominently featured in several framed pictures at different ages, usually about two to three years apart. The earliest picture of the girls showed Kim and Ron each holding one of the girls when they were about two or so. They were sitting on a couple of chairs next to each other, one child in each lap, their heads propped on each child's shoulder and smiling widely for the camera. The girls were looking blankly out from it, but smiled also. The next shot showed them at age six, dressed identically as little angels, wings and halo included, at a Christmas pageant from school. There was sprinkles scattered all through their hair, lighting their tresses up in the color of bright lava. Then there was the one of them at age ten, a formal portrait with them broadly grinning, their freckles standing out prominently on their faces.

She stepped into the office and admired the latest one of the girls, taken only a few months ago, marveling how with their red hair and green eyes they literally were turning into exact replicas of their mother. It was then Kim stirred and lifted her head up. Tara turned and faced her, waiting. Kim smacked her lips a couple of times from dryness, blinking the sleep from her half-hooded eyes, and ran her hands through her hair before looking up.

"Oh, Tara.", she sighed, "Didn't see you there. Sorry, dozed off for a second."

"Uh-huh.", Tara replied knowingly, "And when was the last time you got any rest?"

She sat down opposite her in a visitor's chair, looking concerned.

Kim shrugged, "Too long, but you know that."

"Yeah. Anything new?"

Kim slowly shook her head as she yawned deeply. Her face was drawn and her hair was a mess. She obviously hadn't cleaned up or done anything with herself for the last two days. She looked as bad as Tara did.

"No. It's possible she might have successfully driven past the storm borders. But if she did, I would have to wonder why she hasn't contacted us."

"I think she would have, also, despite how angry she thinks I would be with her."

"Are you?"

Tara shook her head, "I don't care about that right now. You know that."

Kim nodded, "I know."

"Yeah. Well, I'm not really here about that."

"Oh?"

"One of my younger patients has a problem. Her mother is trying to get her father up here. The girl's really very sick and I don't know that she's going to survive. Her mom says he's probably holed up in a shack up in the mountains west of here."

Perplexed, Kim frowned, "What's he doing there?"

Tara shook her head and said, "Long story. His name is Larry Daniels. I understand he's in this shack located on State Highway 114, close to where I-50 runs. She said it's around mile marker 339 or 340."

"Okay.", kIm replied thoughtfully, "I'll pass it along to the search parties. But it's not a priority, so I can't say when they'll get around there. We've been through that area once already."

"I understand", she replied quietly.

"The girl is that sick, huh?"

Tara looked at her and nodded, fighting back the tears, "She could die."

Kim could tell this was making her think about Jill as well. It was a wonder she could think of anything else right now. Kim reached across the desk, beckoning to her friend. Tara responded and lifted her arms to her, and she clasped Kim's hands in hers. Both women looked at each other grimly across that massive desk, but Kim still held the hope in her eyes, trying to infuse that back into her friend.

"She's still with us, Tara. I can feel it."

She smiled back, "It's so hard.", said, one tear successfully snaking down her face, "But I think you're right. Thanks. I'm holding on."

Kim nodded and smiled also. Tara let go, putting her brave face back on, and left to rejoin Kevin and James. Kim leaned back into her chair and relaxed, letting out another sharp sigh, blowing one of her bangs off her forehead. She sat there deep in thought for a few moments, then turned her chair to the side and scooted over to the computer. After hitting a couple of keys, Wade came up on screen.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Oh, hi Kim. Nothing new. Twenty two units are out there looking at present, fighting the winds. The other eight are back in and refueling. The temperature on the ground is twenty five below, sixty below with the wind chill factor. The winds are up to forty to fifty miles an hour with seventy mile per hour gusts in places. Visibility is still less than fifty yards. We've completed the northern sector search and are concentrating on the south now."

"Good. Listen, Tara Monroe was just up here about a pretty sick patient of hers whose father is apparently holed up in some shack in the mountains to the west. Don't ask me why. Anyway, if you get a unit out there again, check it out and see if he's there. It's located on 114, near mile marker 340 or so."

"Okay Kim, done. There ought to be a unit going in that direction in about three or four hours."

"Thanks, Wade."

The console beeped, and Kim could see it was the OD. She hit the receive key.

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"I have those updates you requested, Commander."

Kim sighed, "Okay, just forward them to my office."

"Aye, aye, ma'am.", he replied and clicked the connection off.

Kim turned back to Wade, "Okay, Wade, just com me if anything comes up."

"Sure thing... ...Commander.", he said, snickering slightly.

"Hey, don't make me hurt you.", she retorted playfully, smiling as she flicked the monitor off. He always liked to tease her about her 'rank'. But she knew he was just trying to cheer her up, seeing how glum she was. She grinned, silently thanking him for the attempt.

Moving her chair back, she looked at her desk, specifically at the papers she had been sleeping on. It was a report on the fiscal budget for Team Possible operations for the following year. Although Ron handled the bulk of this stuff, as CO of Team Possible she still had to sign off on it, which meant she was going to read it.

"I _so_ hate politics." she muttered as she turned the page to where she had left off reading.

* * *

Not far from where Kim had her office, Ron sat down at his own desk to attend to some of the daily expense reports and balance sheets. Like Kim, he was aggravated at the ballooning paperwork imposed on them by the government when they took up the government's offer for financial support. At the time, the expansion to their operations was worth it. The upgrades and improvements in personnel and equipment significantly helped out as Kim taking on world terrorism required a much bigger scope of operations than before. But now that she had it well under control, the government had become little more than an incredible hassle. Even with a full staff of accountants at his beck and call, he was overwhelmed just overseeing it. He didn't trust anyone except his father doing the final audit for him, and he was retired now, so it always made him nervous.

Like Kim, his desk was a stacked jungle of government forms, which had spread beyond that to stacks lined up on the floor next to it. His computer station was the same model as his wife's. Unlike Kim, his walls were far more sparsely decorated, except for the family pictures, which were much the same ones over Kim's computer station. He did have a few commendations and awards himself But the family shots were as numerous on his wall as Kim's, if not more. Instead of the solo shots of him, of course, there were a couple of Kim. The first was a casual shot of her at the Grand Canyon in slacks and sweater. Then there was the formal one of Kim at the recent government function in which she was awarded the Medal of Freedom, where she was so beautifully made up. She wore a glittering blue evening gown that set off her hair and eyes incredibly well. She also wore the diamond pendant necklace and matching earrings which Ron gave her when the boys were born. They were very expensive, of course, since Ron could afford it, and Kim loved wearing them when she felt it was not too ostentatious which, unfortunately for him, she felt was most of the time. He loved seeing her when she was all dressed up. That was one of the few times she felt it was right, and she was absolutely stunning in them that day with that gown and her hair made up. Except for their wedding day, she had never looked better. He also had a closeup of her on his desk, a wide smile coming from that beautiful face to greet and help him every time he sat down to what had slowly become a more and more onerous chore.

Shuffling through the reports, he came to one concerning the medical wing. He shook his head in irritation as he perused it. Medical billing was an incredible nightmare, and something he left almost completely to them, but he still had to do a general overview. He looked at the numbers each year to make sure he understood the bottom line. TPMC was not profitable, nor was it meant to be, but he had to really expend a lot of time to make sure they didn't lose their shirts in the process either. Thumbing through the sheets he came upon the research area and noted several projects that were listed in the expenses, though not the biggest one they had wanted to try, the one Tara had been trying to get funded for the last two years.

He thought back to the wild and carefree days in high school, when all he had to worry about was what he was going to eat next at Bueno Nacho, always being there for Kim on the missions, and having fun. If he knew then, what he knew now, that he'd be this big shot CEO on a scale that approached his idol, Martin Smarty, with all these responsibilities, he would have said, 'Absolutely No Way!". But then it did happen, because Kim was always the crux of his life. She was why it all happened, and he never regretted it. He turned his attention back to the report. As he went through the figures, he finally found the initial estimates for Tara Monroe's new research project.

There was no question that Tara's proposal was audacious and bold, possibly one of the biggest breakthroughs in medicine in a hundred years, but the biggest hurdle, as it always seemed to be, was affording the technology. Even with his wealth and influence, he couldn't find a way to do that without contributors. Bueno Nacho Incorporated was a world-wide behemoth, and Ron and Kim's personal wealth was still something even the Señor Seniors would envy. But their wealth was heavily tied up in all sorts of trusts for the kids, for Team Possible, and other philanthropic charities and projects. They didn't need that much liquidity for their particular situation, at least until Ron heard Tara's presentation two years ago at the annual board of directors meeting. He would have gladly funded it himself, as would Kim, but the massive amount of money they needed literally made Ron's jaw drop when he first saw the figures. So, he did the next best thing and went looking for donations. Initially he had done well, but unfortunately, he had lately hit a brick wall in that department. There were several Web-thons that had been conducted using the new holographic interactive technology, and that had helped, but the newness seemed to have run out now. He sat there thinking it through, trying to determine a new strategy, when he heard a small knock at his door. Looking at his clock, he saw that his appointment had arrived.

"Come in.", he said.

The door opened to reveal a small woman with brown hair, impeccably dressed, yet she looked extremely tired.

"Mr. Stoppable?"

Ron stood up and came around the desk to greet her. He shook her hand and waved her to a chair to sit. She seemed nervous, and Ron started to feel the same way. He played it cautious and spoke formally.

"Yes, ma'am. You must be Mrs. Daniels.", he replied as she sat down. He returned to his chair as she spoke.

"That's correct. I want to thank you for taking the time to see me."

"My pleasure. I understand you're staying here in the complex?"

Ron noted a touch of sadness coming over her face, "Yes, my daughter is under the care of one of your physicians here at the base, Dr. Monroe."

"I see.", Ron said, smiling, "And If I may say, you can't get any better care for your child than her."

Mrs. Daniels returned his smile, "I very much agree, Mr. Stoppable. I can't tell you how wonderful she's been with us."

"I have no doubt, ma'am. How is your daughter, Ma'am?"

The woman grimaced, "It's still touch and go. You know how cancer treatment can be."

Ron understood the seriousness of the child's illness, and it explained his guest's demeanor. He responded solemnly, now knowing the source of her distress, "Yeah, I understand. I'm so sorry. I really hope that everything will turn out for the best."

She forced another smile, "I appreciate that, sir. But as I explained when I made the appointment to see you, the reason I am here is that I had been talking to one of the nurses and they told me that Dr. Monroe's research has reached a stumbling block in the financing of the next phase of development. I was hoping to help her out in that. I had planned on contributing to her research anyway, but when I heard that, that's when I decided to meet with you. This is one thing I can do to help against these diseases that kill our children."

He thought to himself, 'Unfortunately, what you can give will probably only be a drop in the bucket. But every bit does help.'

Ron considered her seriously and replied, "Yes, ma'am. That is extremely generous of you. As you may know, I am CEO of Bueno Nacho Incorporated, and through the Bueno Kids Foundation we have funded several of Dr. Monroe's projects in the last several years. We are very proud of her accomplishments. This next project is potentially a real medical breakthrough, but it also is a really expensive one for which Bueno Kids Foundation has been trying to find cosponsors. All contributions to the research are welcome, if that's what you wish to do."

"It is.", she replied, "If I may ask, I am curious as to what is the amount of money needed for this next phase of the project I have heard about?"

He gave her a resigned look, silently implying how out of reach their goal was, "Well, the total we will require is going to be close to one point seven five billion dollars. Bueno Nacho has raised about six hundred million towards that."

To his surprise, she remained completely unfazed and nodded slowly, "Well, perhaps I can help somewhat."

She pulled out a digital notepad from her purse. Taking the stylus, she punched a few buttons on it and then turned it around and showed it to Ron.

"Will this help?", she said quietly.

Ron's jaw nearly hit the desk when he saw the figure on the notepad.

Eyes wide as saucers, he replied, "Uh, Mrs. Daniels. You aren't joking, are you?"

"I'm as serious as my daughter's cancer."

"That's a lot of zeroes! May I ask why?"

Samantha Daniels took a deep breath before responding, "Mr. Stoppable. As you can now imagine, my husband and I are independently wealthy, though not in your league, I admit."

Ron whistled, "I must disagree, Mrs. Daniels. I might have a net worth that's probably higher, yeah. But wow! Even I can't lay my hands on that much liquidity at one time."

She gave him a satisfied smirk as she enlightened him, "I was independently wealthy before I met my husband, but he has made his fortune too."

"Oh, really? How?", he asked.

His guest suddenly became stiff for a moment, then forced herself to relax as she answered, "That's hard to explain, and not really important here, but what is important is that this has given us certain advantages in our investments that allowed us to manipulate a gift like this. But to explain more precisely, when our daughter became sick, my husband and I swore to do everything in our power to get her well again. It has been the guiding principle of our lives for the last eight months. One of the things we vowed to do was that if we ever found the doctor who could cure her, we would donate whatever funds were needed to get her treatments out to the general public where it could do some real good, not just as experimental medicine.

"Of all the doctors we have gone to, Dr. Monroe has been the only one whose work has truly been able to give us a real chance as curing my daughter. Now, I don't know if the treatment she's received here will be in time. I know I may still lose her. But I do know that had Dr. Monroe's treatment had been past the experimental stage, been accepted as standard treatment, I would have found her earlier, and I believe my daughter most surely would have been cured by now. Because of that, I want to do whatever is necessary to get her work properly accepted by the medical community at large. This is my husband's and my way of doing that."

Ron was awestruck.

"Ma'am, I don't know what to say. I can't tell you what this will mean to Tara's research, although I'm sure you already know. It is the most generous gift we have ever had to the medical center in our history."

She smiled again and said, "Thank you. I will call my financial institutions and make the necessary arrangements. Please, don't tell Dr. Monroe just yet. My husband is not here at present, and I want to wait until he returns."

"I understand. Please, if there's anything we can do for you."

"I will let you know. Your staff has already been excellent in seeing to my needs. Now, if you will excuse me, I really need to get back to my daughter."

"Sure! Oh course, and of course, my best wishes for her recovery."

"Thank you again.", she replied as he came around and showed her to the door. She walked off down the hall and Ron watched her all the way until she disappeared around the far corner going back towards the medical wing.

He closed the door, waiting until he was sure she was out of earshot, then turned around and quietly yelled, "Booyah!"

* * *

Wade slurped his drink and typed commands into the computer, redirecting his efforts back at the Western area again. These days he had full voice command functions to his digital systems so that if he wanted, he didn't have to type a single keystroke anymore, but he still liked to keep his hand in at times, even if his typing rate had slowed down to a mere two hundred thirty words a minute. He gazed at the screen, noting the orbiting satellite was back in range now, and he wanted to get a fresh look at the area to try and find this shack Kim had been talking about. He found a hot spot, unchanged, looking to be about a hundred or a hundred fifty feet off of the road, just about the right mile marker.

'Yeah', he thought, 'I'll bet that's the place. Whoever he is, he's got to be crazy to be up there at a time like this.

As he looked up and down highway 114 he started to follow it along its way, noting that there was one anomaly not far from the hot spot which he initially thought could have been the shack. But as he looked again, he remembered this anomaly from the previous scan. It was located directly on the road, and it had changed, looking colder.

'On the road?', he mused, 'Gotta be a vehicle...'

He remembered from before that it was a bright spot on the map, looking like a fireplace from a cabin, but it bothered him. It didn't look right. Now it looked more like a running car, but way too cold for that. On the other hand, it was warmer than a car that was not running. He punched up some data bases and started to investigate...

"Computer.", he said, reverting to voice command, "Construct illustration of probable satellite thermal image of automotive fuel cell reactor under these blizzard conditions."

A picture blipped onto the secondary screen and he kept looking back and forth between it and the anomaly. It didn't match.

"Computer, display image of named anomaly received forty eight hours prior."

Instantly a brighter image appeared alongside the most recent one. It was much brighter than the simulation and it still didn't really look like it, except...

Why was the vehicle there in the first place? Snowed in for sure. If someone were trapped inside, that meant the car was running to provide heat. Why was it now colder? It should be hotter than it was presently showing. Was it malfunctioning? What could have happened to make it dysfunctional? Why did it look so flared up like before?

Frowning, an idea popped into his head. He proceeded with another logical assumption.

"Computer, construct illustration of probable satellite thermal image of a burning ruptured automotive fuel cell in blizzard conditions."

The image appeared on screen. Wade's eyes got wide, and he immediately started typing furiously into the keyboard. Then he spoke up once more.

"Computer! Align with object three-forty-two dash one-fourteen and execute gamma burst scan of target."

The computer beeped and the screen changed. Slowly the blurred hot spot began to coalesce into a shape, the outlines became sharper, the line image of a sedan coming to life, the overlying hot spot coming from the front engine compartment of the car."

"Identify make and model!", Wade cried.

The computer screen spat out the answer and Wade's eyes got very round. He turned and hit the com button. Kim's face appeared right after.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Kim! I think I found Tara's car!"

"What! Where?

"Do you remember that shack you told me to look for?

"Yes! Is it there?"

"I found the shack! And I think Tara's car is about two miles away! It's the same make and model! But there's a problem."

Kim's face lost its color, the apprehension taking hold, "What? What is it?"

"It looks like one or more of the fuel cells in the car have ruptured and may have caught the whole thing on fire. If that's true, and Jill wasn't caught inside it, then she's been out in that weather for the past two days."

Kim went white and looked dumbstruck, and after a moment to collect herself, "Oh, God, she would never survive that long if that's true. Are you sure, Wade?"

"Afraid, so, Kim. If I'm right..."

"You're always right, Wade.", she riposted, a little irritated, then became truly frightened, " Late sometimes, but you're always right."

She looked away in thought for several moments before looking at him again.

"Okay.", she said in full command voice, "Call back units three, four, nine, ten, fifteen, sixteen, twenty-one, and twenty-two. Have them return immediately to base. I'll call Ron. This one is mine, personally."

"Kim! You know the government doesn't like you going out on non-national crisis missions! You're too valuable to them!"

"If they don't like it, they can fire me!", she retorted, "Get those birds back now! And one other thing. Don't tell Tara or anybody else until we can confirm this. I don't want her unnecessarily worried. Okay?"

"Got it, Kim! See you later!"

"Later, Wade.", and the screen went dead.

Wade clicked his own screen off and then sent the call out to the choppers to return.

"Good for you, Kim", he muttered to himself, "I hope they do fire us. It's about time we were back on our own."

* * *

Deep in his meditation, Ron sat in Lotus position, again trying to harness the Time Stream, to see into it. Just as before, it toyed with him strenuously until he was able to tackle one tendril out of the tornado and pin it, but strangely it would not unravel. In fact, it did not move. There was no apparent activity to it. It was staid and placid, and fixed. It had no fluidity.

"That's strange.", he thought, "I've never pinned a thread down like that before."

The thread emitted glistening light like diamonds, solid and unwavering, like it had an unchanging quality to it. Then Ron remembered Sensei talking about this.

He mentally gasped, "The past!"

Sensei had told him of this long ago, that this sometimes happened, but he had never experienced it in a quarter century of studying the Time Stream. As it crossed his mind, the thread turned into a crystalline line and snaked out of the maelstrom. It unwound into a clear sheet of uncut clarity and like a movie screen the scene played out.

* * *

_They were in the temple before the Great Trine, teenagers again. They were viewing their future in a blindingly bright ball of energy that sat before them. Awed, the two teenagers didn't move. They saw an image come into the ball of light. It was Kim, as she is now, riding on the deck of some sort of advanced military aircraft, a combination of a jet and a helicopter._

"That's a Sunhawk!", thought Ron as he watched.

_In that image in the ball, he saw himself beside her as they looked out an open hatchway over a heavily snowed-in countryside somewhere. It looked like it was close to Middleton, but he couldn't be sure. In the image Kim was the same age she is now, not the age of the teenagers who watched, and were stunned by the two figures appearing just behind the older Kim on the craft. It was K-J and Mim._

"_Ron! Look! Look!", the teen-aged Kim cried out._

_The teen Ron could only gape, too choked up to answer._

_Behind their older selves on the aircraft appeared the two fourteen year old girls. They had the green eyes and the long red hair of their mother, and their mother's face and figure, and they wore mission gear._

_The teen-aged Kim almost shrieked as she reached up and held on to her Ron, hugging him tight as she yelped._

"_Oh my gosh, Ron! They're our daughters! Our daughters!"_

_The tears running down her face, she looked back, trying to catch and savor every moment she could as she leaned her head against Ron's, mumbling 'Oh, my gosh! Look at them!' over and over again. He was too stunned to talk, crying as she was, holding on to her as tightly as he could. They watched as the older Kim turned in the hatchway and smiled at the two girls, then reached out and pulled them into a loving embrace as the older Ron looked on, also smiling. The scene slowly faded, and the teen-aged Kim cried harder as it disappeared, not wanting to lose sight of it._

* * *

Ron shook himself out of his meditation. The entire thread collapsed and the tornado disappeared just as quickly as he regained his awareness. He could never forget that incredible moment twenty four years ago. But why would it would reveal itself to him now?... trying to remind him? Like the thread of the past, it became crystal clear.

He shot up from his sitting position and ran for the door, As he pulled it open and sped through, he tapped the Kimmunicator on his wrist and shouted.

"K-J! Mim! Meet me in our quarters, now!"

* * *

Hidden away in the rear of the mountain lair, in a darkened chamber lit only by the candle set up before him, he sat motionless on the tatami mats, his head bowed in deep meditation. His breathing was slowed and calm. His inner _chi_ was at peace and controlled. But there was no benevolence in his heart. In fact, a cold murderous desire was what nursed off the dark energies that swirled throughout his being, one that had energized him since he was a boy. Growing up under his grandmother's shadow, he had always been torn in his feelings for her. His father he had never known, and was told only that he died shortly after he was born, and that his mother was the cause of it. His mother betrayed him further by deserting him shortly after his birth, and he was brought up by his grandmother, herself an outcast and isolated from the rest of his blood relatives. This was what he knew about his father's side of the family. They had never told him, while he was growing up anyway, anything about his mother's kin, not until his great uncle came into his life.

In those early years, Drew P. Theodore Lipsky III never knew what to expect when his great grandfather's namesake visited. As a child, he could remember hearing his grandmother and the 'great' Dr. Drakken arguing about him through the night while he pretended to sleep under the covers in his room. He didn't understand most of it, not then at least. But then everything changed just as he turned twelve. His grandmother had suddenly died, and his great uncle took him in as his guardian.

He understood better after that as his great uncle showed him the family secrets, revealed the greatness of the family's vision and purpose for the world through complete domination, to become the leaders of civilization throughout the planet. It had clicked in his mind like a light bulb that he had found his destiny, his purpose in life. In the long discussions with his great uncle, at first a mentor and now his compatriot, he had heard how his grandmother had been so misguided, opposed to her grandson assuming the mantle of the achieving the family's deserved reward. And he never understood why, until Drakken told him about his mother. Then he understood that his father had been blinded by love, has been misled and betrayed by the woman who had abandoned them both, and his grandmother, still professing to have loved her dead son had doggedly retained her loyalty to her daughter-in-law even to the end despite the evidence of her treachery, and that of her side of the family.

It was ironic. He knew his purpose in life had a sweet side to it, that hunger for revenge against those who had betrayed his father and hurt his kin. For he knew now they had to be eliminated in order to achieve his life's purpose, his family's purpose, complete world domination. To do it, he surpassed even his great uncle. Graduating summa cum laude from college at fourteen, gaining his doctorate in mathematics and physics two years later, simultaneously learning to hone his body into an instrument of death in Tai Shing Pek Kwar, and in the depths the Simian Canyon, at the secret cult of the Yono, he contested with them for the honor of releasing that ominous power and unleashing it on the world. Only this time, unlike the present holder of that dark temple's burden, he would not lose. No, he had succeeded. Since then, the Yono has proceeded to enhance his power. At seventeen, he had surpassed all his great uncle's expectations. The older man's strengths in producing weapons of destruction was equally matched by his grandnephew's abilities to hone the designs. He envisioned them better, but his great uncle still had the better practical experience in building them. And now they were about to unleash the first weapon in their battle to achieve world dominance.

"It is time.", the ominous voice intoned from the darkness.

The boy took a deep breath and opened his eyes, and stood, revealing the emblem of the dark monkey beneath him on the tatami mats. His blue skin seemed almost black in the tepid flame before him.

"Yes.s.s.s.s.s.s...", said another voice, "It is! It's about time!"

"Patience, great uncle, patience.", the boy said as Drakken walked into the candlelight.

"Patience be hanged!", the older man spat, "I've waited long enough. You are the instrument of my revenge. Get to it!"

The boy merely smiled, "I assume you have been monitoring their communications?"

"Of course! Wasn't it my idea in the first place?", riposted Drakken.

"Quite so, great uncle, quite so.", the boy replied soothingly, "but the plan is still mine."

"Nnngghhh! I could have done it, too!"

"Perhaps. Let's not argue. The Skywolf is ready then?"

"Yes.", Drakken said curtly, "And this is the best time to strike them down. The blizzard is the worst they've had in the area in over thirty years. They are not prepared for combat, nor expecting it. They will be easy to pick off and destroy."

"Good.", the boy mused to himself, "Closer and closer, my destiny comes. The Prophecy will be fulfilled, only not in the way they think."

"Prophecy, Schmophecy!", Drakken retorted, "It's all a bunch of hooey!"

Drew looked at him calmly, saying, "And yet this 'hooey', as you put it, defeated you again and again over the years. How else can you explain your multiple and complete defeats by an ordinary teen-aged girl?"

"She wouldn't seem so ordinary to you if you had fought her!", he spat back.

"Oh, I'm sure of that.", the boy replied, chuckling, "One of the reasons I have our companion around."

A small diminutive figure advanced closer and the wan light limned him. No more than three feet tall, completely simian in appearance, the Yono nonetheless exhibited fearsome power, and his eyes reflected an evil of harsh intensity as they flashed with his smile.

Drakken continued, "So how did you know that this girl, this daughter of Kim Possible's friend would get herself in such a pickle as to cause the 'great hero' to come looking for her? And exactly in the time and place where you can destroy her?

The boy smiled evilly, saying, "As I told you before so many times, Great Uncle. Prophecy, and my ability through Tai Shing Pek Kwar to read the time lines."

"Even more hooey!", grumbled Drakken under his breath, "Probably no more than dumb luck."

"And how many times has my 'dumb luck' accurately described the events I foretold, Great Uncle? How did I so conveniently acquire the fortune I have through the stock manipulations? How did I know exactly when the security of the weapons I wanted would be compromised when I needed them to be so I could just waltz in and grab them. How did I...,"

"Yes! Yes! I know!", Drakken grudgingly conceded. "I grant that you have some weird ability in that! Although I would prefer a more scientific explanation!"

"None needed.", said Drew, "It is obvious, and my power grows every day."

"And you still need him?", asked Drakken, pointing at the small figure malevolently glaring at him.

"We have a bargain, Great Uncle.", Drew replied in a condescending manner, "We both have grand designs in which our alliance benefits both of us."

"Quite true.", that ominous voice intoned, "Because of the bargain we have made, so that you may achieve your destiny through the power of the Yono, it is the blood of the dragon that calls me to its destruction. Such will be my task in the end."

"Exactly.", the boy said smiling, "As I have commanded you when we made our pact. Now, our agent has the 'bait', this girl, and her protector, under observation?"

"He does, well within his very sight at all times, and right under his nose.", the Yono replied smugly, "The wolves have even heard him call to them. The girl has no idea how close to death she really is. When the time comes, the man will lead her out into the snow, betraying her. She will fall right into our trap."

"Which will lead Kim Possible to her inescapable doom trying to rescue her.", continued the boy gleefully, "I have foreseen it! It is Destiny! The blood of the dragon will out, one way or the other!"

"Then remember the bargain!", said the Yono thunderously, "I will be paid the blood of the dragon as my price!"

The boy lost his smile, "I do not forget, Yono. It shall be done."

The Yono grinned and added malevolently, "Good. Whether it is her blood... ...or yours."

* * *

**And so the tension increases. So who is the Yono's agent? I am now in the middle chapters which are very de novo and may take longer to produce. I'll have the next one out as soon as I can, though it may be a few days.**


	7. Search Into Danger

**Author's Note: The action begins... ...and we get a couple of unexpected guests.**

**Search Into Danger**

It wasn't the howling of the wind which awoke Jill that next morning. Exhausted as she was, two nights and a day of that constant din had inured her to it, and she slept soundly. It was the moaning of wood strained beyond its endurance that alarmed her into wakefulness. Larry was just as attuned to it, shooting up off of the mattress and looking hard at the ceiling.

"Damn.", he muttered.

Quickly, Jill got up beside him, looking anxiously at the rafters.

"What do you think?", she said nervously.

He didn't answer immediately, staring hard, his eyes darting around, trying to find the source of that noise.

"I dunno.", he whispered, "It might be nothing. But just in case, start getting the packs out."

Jill didn't waste any time. She pulled out the backpack and knapsack that he had recovered from the Range Rover the previous night, along with the two large parkas and two sets of goggles. Dropping the bundle on the table, she first put on the parka he had given for her to use, as it was easier to adapt to her smaller frame. She had to roll up the sleeves and use some rope to tie it down around her stomach as it was still way too big for her, but it worked. Once she had managed that, she handed the other one to Larry, who donned it and picked up the Mag-Lite again, still searching the ceiling of the shack with it. She gathered up supplies from the shelving to put in the packs.

Larry shined the light into the rafters, looking here and there. Jill found a makeshift first aid kit and shoved it and some bandages, gauze, and tape into her pack. She followed that with the jerky they recovered, then reached for matches. Just as she grabbed them, she heard a loud crack.

Both of them froze as they looked up, Larry focusing the flashlight at the source of the sound.

"Oh, no.", he moaned.

Jill saw where the light was aimed. There was the main rafter beam, a four by twelve, which laid across the entire width of the cabin at the top of the roof support. In the middle, there was now a large crack going about halfway through it, slowly enlarging as it moaned.

Hurriedly, Larry jumped to the table and started to push everything he could into his pack, including the Mag-Lite and the snow goggles he had.

"Get going, Jill! She's going to collapse any moment!"

Shocked out of her paralysis, a horrified look on her face, Jill frantically reached down and helped.

"What about the cans?", she cried as she stuffed the jerky in.

"Leave them!", he shouted, "They're too heavy and we can't use them!"

"But the jerky's not enough, is it?"

"Believe me! By the time we run out of it, it won't matter any more!"

She stopped and looked at him momentarily, fear hitting her, before her need forced her to resume her furious pace. In seconds, everything they could use had been crammed into their knapsacks. They helped each other shoulder the packs on. Just as they finished, another loud crack screamed from above as the main support beam of the shack snapped in two and fell down, collapsing in slow motion, the rafters groaning worse in their failing attempt to keep the roof up. A rent opened up in the roofing tiles and snow began to blow down onto the broken wood. The roof slowly come apart and fragmented, parts of it dropping onto the cabin floor with clumps of snow on top of them. The storm suddenly invaded with blinding white and stinging cold.

"Run!" Larry shouted as the raging storm invaded the shack, the wind swirling throughout, instantly sucking the warmth away. A huge mound of snow fell and enveloped them, falling apart around the floor as it hit with a loud 'whuff'. Struggling through the shock of the sudden cold, they slogged over to the door and yanked at it, slowly making headway in opening it against the snow bank that had so quickly occupied the shack. When the opening was just large enough, Larry pushed Jill out the doorway and started to squeeze himself through. Outside, she turned and grabbed his arm trying to help him past the door. The shack gave up the fight as the rafters completely broke apart and fell onto the floor of the shack, splintering and shrieking, taking the whole roof with it. The stone chimney collapsed into rubble, immediately snuffing the fire and burying the pot in brick and snow. Steam rose from pile of brick and snow. The doorway bent outward, allowing Larry to suddenly pop through, landing in deep powder with Jill just as the walls of the shack collapsed in on themselves, on top of the fallen roof. Only a part of the back wall next to the Range Rover stayed up, splintered and ragged, along with the lower part of the chimney. As Jill and Larry scurried away in the snow, escaping the debris that fell out at them, flames broke out and started rising from the ruin, quickly engulfing the remains of the old timber of the shack until it became a bonfire.

"Come on!", Larry shouted, "Run for it!"

The got up and trudged through the snow into the woods as the shack groaned once more, the rubble shifting under the rising flames. Huddling up against a tree, Jill watched in horror, fearful of what they were going to have to do now. She turned her gaze to Larry, both of them holding their parkas close to them.

Her eyes cried out her fear. She panted raggedly. He was just as scared, but for her sake, he put a look of steel resolve on his face and said, "Let's go! We've got four miles to Sandidge's place! The sooner we get started, the sooner we get warm!"

Jill froze, looking at him wide eyed.

"I can't!", she cried out, "I can't. It's too far! I can't do this again!"

Larry turned back to her and grabbed her by the arms and made her face him. His face inches from her he yelled, "Listen to me! You can! You're strong enough to do it!"

Jill started crying, unable to answer or move. Larry's face turned angry as he continued to yell at her.

"Listen to me!", he shouted again as he shook her, "I can do this! You can do this! I will make sure you get to safety! I owe your mother too much to fail at this! You hear me! I will get you home!"

Jill stopped crying, staring in shock.

"I will get you home!", he yelled again, "Do you believe me!"

Blinking her tears away, she slowly nodded to him. She was unsure, desperate, unable to see any way out of this. She saw no other choice, except for him. He gave her a pair of the goggles to protect her eyes and donned a second pair himself.

"Then let's go!"

He pointed in the direction they had to travel and held out his hand. Tremulously, she took it, and together they began to force their way through the snow towards safety. As he led her, he looked all around him, searching for something in the snow, but apparently not finding anything, but then he spotted what he was looking for. Tracks. He stared at them, understanding. Without wasting any more time, he turned and pulled Jill through the snow.

Behind him, a shadow emerged from the tree line, red eyes glaring malevolently in the direction of the retreating figures.

* * *

The klaxons sounded threateningly as Kim strode across the tarmac towards Dragonrider, looking as calm as she was determined. All around her, people were rushing here and there, getting their jobs done as the Sunhawks returned to base. As soon as one landed, they powered the jets down and the crew disembarked, the landing team moving in to hook the bird up to a tram and tow it out of the way so that the next one could land. For the craft getting ready to depart further down the hangar, the teams kept busy refueling and checking the engines as the pilots would perform a fast but thorough scan of their entire aircraft in preparation of bugging out again. Medical personnel were streaming fast into the area, getting ready to board. Kim paid little attention, her eyes staying on Dragonrider, the one bird ready to fly right now. She had already called Ron and told him of the news. He said he had sensed it, and that they would be ready. Sometimes his Monkey power would let him sense things like this, so she didn't think about it, but then she wondered.

"They?"

She was musing this when the OD popped up breathless, grabbing her attention.

"Commander!"

"Report!", Kim barked.

"The birds should all be in within the next hour!", he shouted over the noise, "It will take about another hour after that to refuel and refit and get them all back out again!"

"Which ones so far?"

"Three, ten, fifteen, and twenty-two!"

Tim and Jim hadn't made it back yet... ...'Okay.', she thought, 'They can follow as soon as they can.'

"And the medical personnel?", she shouted out at him over the noise.

"Standard EMT crew!", he yelled back as they neared Dragonrider, her engines already roaring up, "and a standard combat team for defense."

Kim growled to herself. She didn't need any combat personnel for this, but that was SOP, and she wasn't going to break the rules, not even in her own outfit.

"Fine!", she shouted, "Make sure all the other operations here run smooth. I don't want my absence on this one to interfere with anything else."

"Understood, commander! Officially Dragonrider is on the ground! Your code name will be Red Drake twenty-three!"

"Good! Exactly what we need!"

"We'll run interference if anyone asks!", he yelled with a knowing grin and two thumbs up.

She reached the hatch of the Sunhawk and put one foot on the stair step. She grabbed the handle on the fuselage and climbed up, then turned to the OD once on board, the blizzard's wind from the open hangar doors blowing her hair horizontally in its undiminished fury.

"I want this understood, Lieutenant!", she said with finality, "This girl will be found at all costs! Lets make sure we complete the job!"

The OD grinned as he saluted her, "Aye Aye! Ma'am! We'll get it done!", and he vaulted away and shouted orders to the subordinates awaiting him.

Kim turned and looked looking around the cabin for Ron. It was a small madhouse in there with people milling about, trying to get situated and ready to fly. To the rear, the EMT unit was busy checking their gear and preparing supplies. They had a gurney pulled up and lashed to the side of the fuselage along with two carry boards. Their kits were opened up on the ground as they checked the defibrillator and the crash cart contents, making sure they had all the required medications, central line kits, IV bags, peripheral IV butterfly needles, and antibiotics. To the front, the combat team was milling towards the front, trying to square their gear away and get belted into their seats. Each bore an M-29 assault rifle complete with 'Smart Round' technology in both the standard 5.56mm ammunition and the grenade launcher, capable of firing several different types of rounds. They were checking their weapons and loading their ammo, rigging their web belts accordingly. Kim found Ron waiting for her towards the back with the medical team. She smiled briefly and moved through the activity to where he was. When she got to him, she reached up and kissed him. He grinned and hugged her in return.

"You ready?", he said.

"Let's get on with it!", she replied, smiling, "Are the girls okay?"

"Yeah, they're good to go."

"Fine. Now it's going to take us about twenty minutes to get to where Tara's car is..."

She remembered he said, 'They'...

"Ron, what did you mean with 'they're good to go'?"

A sheepish look overtook his face, and he looked around the fuselage aimlessly. Perplexed, she looked at him funny, until it hit her. An appalled look quickly overtook her confusion as she pulled away from him.

"_You didn't_!"

Ron's face fell, but quickly became animated as he explained.

"Hear me out, KP! They have to come!"

"We were supposed to agree on this, Ron!", she yelled back, her eyes flashing electric bolts at him, "They aren't ready! They're too young! It's too dangerous!"

"No, honey! They are ready! You have to trust me on this!"

"How do you know?", she yelled back, "How can you be so stinking sure this sitch isn't going to go sour, especially with the way our luck has been running?"

No one took notice that the commander and her husband were having a fight there on the deck of the helicopter, or at least pretended so.

Ron looked sternly at her and said, "Kim! I saw it! We saw it!"

"Saw what?"

"The vision! The reason why they have to come!"

Her head snapped back in surprise, "Huh? What are you talking about? It's you and your funky Monkey Vision! Isn't it? _Isn't it_?"

Ron's face reddened in anger , "Damn it, Kim! You know I don't make this stuff up! It comes when it comes! And you know that it's always true!"

Kim was about to reply hotly, but held her tongue. She couldn't answer, because she knew he was right. She could only growl at him.

"The Great Trine!", Ron continued, "Remember? When we were before the Great Trine!"

Kim went silent, her thinking derailed. She had not thought of that moment in a very long time, but her experience in the monastery in China and the audience with the Great Trine was as indelibly imprinted on her memory as it was in his. She couldn't ever forget, yet she didn't see immediately how this related. Ron went on.

"Remember when the Dragon showed us the future! When we first saw K-J and Mim! In the Sunhawk!"

She blinked in confusion a moment, then gasped, the memory pouring in on her. She looked around at the fuselage and started to compare it with that memory and found it fit.

"But, but how?", she asked tentatively, "How do you know it's now?"

"I was meditating, looking for Jill. I ran into a thread of the past."

"The past!", she exclaimed, "You said you never were able to do that!"

"Not until today! But it wasn't by coincidence! I'm sure of it! For some reason, I was being warned the girls had to come with us! This is the day we saw twenty-four years ago!"

She looked at him in consternation, "Are you really sure, Ron?"

He nodded firmly, "You know how these crazy visions of mine seem to work, KP."

She eyed him silently, a wave of fear rushing through her as K-J and Mim, both wearing mission gear timidly came forward from behind their father.

Kim held onto Ron's arms as he held on to hers. K-J cautiously reached out and touched her arm with one hand, and then the other.

"Mom?", she said.

Kim looked down at her oldest daughter, the worry evident on her face. Mim reached around the other side and embraced her mother.

"Mom.", K-J continued, "Please. We are ready for this. I promise you we will not take any unnecessary chances."

"But they are chances, honey. Risks.", her mother said.

"KP.", added Ron, "You know it's what they really want, more than anything."

Kim looked at Ron again, "You're really sure we have to do this?"

He looked back at her as serious as he could, "I saw it, Kim. There's a reason for them to be here. I know it."

Her demeanor fell another step as she became resigned to it. Through the years, Ron's visions, few as they were, always seemed to come true, and in the aftermath of those missions, they realized that disregarding them would have been a bad mistake. It was as bad as trying to prove Wade was wrong. He never was, of course.

Sighing, she gathered the two girls to her and said, "All right."

They squealed like four year olds and started to jump up and down in their mother's embrace.

"Okay, you two!", she commanded sternly as she stared down into their overjoyed faces, "Here are the rules! You stay inside! You do _not_, and I mean you _will not _leave this cabin for any reason whatsoever, unless I say it's okay! _You hear me_?"

Like bobble-headed dolls, both girls rapidly nodded their acceptance, smiling so big Kim thought their faces would crack.

"Okay. You go sit down and get belted in. I'll be back in a minute to fill you in on some of our flying protocols. In the meantime, I need to talk to your father."

With a squelched yelp of delight, the girls rushed back to their assigned seats and fastened their safety belts, letting the excitement of the moment take over with wide eyes and wider grins as they looked around at anything and everything.

Kim turned back to Ron with a grim look, but she couldn't hold it. She soon relaxed and said, "Okay, the girls have to come along. Why?"

Ron shook his head, "Really, Kim, I don't know. I just know they have to come."

She looked askance at him, saying, "You snookered me."

Feigning innocence and surprise, Ron replied lightly, "Moi? _Au contraire, madam_! Eet eez ze veezions!"

Kim smirked.

"_Comme si vous avez su parler le français_!", she said in the French she had perfected learning in college.

"Okay, so I don't speak any other French!", he griped back at her, "You know I was too busy with my own studies!"

"Yeah.', she said with half-hooded eyes, "Women's studies?"

"Well, that course wasn't about what I thought it was about!", he said, pouting.

"Riiiight.", she said, rolling her eyes and smiling. But the levity ended too soon, and she was serious again, too concerned about the girls to carry the mirth any further.

Ron smiled supportively at her, "Look, I'm sorry I surprised you this way. But you called me to get on Dragonrider just after I had seen the vision and commed the girls to meet me. I didn't have a chance to discuss it with you."

She nodded and replied, "It's okay, honey. As long as you're sure this is the right thing to do."

"You know I wouldn't do anything to unnecessarily endanger the girls."

With another smile, she hugged him, then said, "We're good. I guess I better get them familiar with V-26 procedures."

"No need, KP. They learned everything about the Sunhawks a year ago."

"Excellent.", she replied chuckling, "They can refresh my memory."

She walked off, still smirking, heading towards the girls and catching their attention.

* * *

The thrum of the jet engines filled the interior of the giant Skywolf with a sound that Drew found soothing, as much as it irritated Drakken. The huge craft practically screamed over the ocean towards the continental United States at a comfortable 480 knots, and at a whisper. Stealth Mode was activated to avoid radar detection and the exhaust mufflers made her passage almost silent, rivaling the old Apache AH-64's in their quiescence. Those old helicopters had earned the nickname "whispering death", but the Skywolf made them sound like old rattletraps. The older man was nervously pacing the floor of the cabin as Drew maintained a meditation pose, occasionally looking out the window at the five other Skywolves accompanying them. There was a chirp from the console next to him and Drew opened his eyes and looked at it. Seeing it was the pilot, he calmly pressed the button and answered.

"Yes."

"We are approaching the coast. You asked to be advised."

"Good. The storm front from the target area has cloud cover all the way to the coast. We shall stay hidden within it. When we hit the Colorado border, all craft are to split up and execute their individual missions. Have the individual team leaders contact me for their orders. Is this understood?"

"Perfectly, sir."

"Very well. Carry out your orders."

"Yes, sir."

Drew cut off communication and withdrew back into his meditation. Drakken continued to pace anxiously until he couldn't stand it any more.

"I don't understand.", he blurted out, "Why are you dividing our forces? We know where she is going."

His meditation interrupted again, Drakken's grandnephew slowly looked back up and sighed heavily.

"It's like I explained, great uncle.", he said in irritation, "She may not find what she's searching for there. We will get to this girl she's trying to find first, then we can set a trap, or even bargain for her. She's more valuable to me alive than dead."

"I suppose.", Drakken grumbled, " You're going to way too much trouble to do this. It doesn't seem necessary."

"Perhaps not to you. But I find it prudent."

"What if you can't get this girl?"

"The Yono already has an agent in place. The girl will have no choice but to go in the direction he forces her. Two others follow behind him to make sure the girl gets to exactly where we want her to be for Kim Possible to try and rescue her. Once that happens, the trap will be sprung."

"What agent?"

Drew smiled widely.

"An ally who is far closer to the girl than she knows."

"Whatever."Drakken droned, "As long as Kim Possible is defeated, once and for all."

The console chirped again and Drew clicked it once more.

"Yes."

"Your orders, sir?", asked one of the three unit commanders.

Drew clicked a few buttons on the console, then spoke.

"Are all three of you on line?"

"Yes, sir.", each answered in turn.

"Good. Your target area data is being transmitted to you as I speak. Beta team, your team will proceed to the indicated secondary target, which is a farm about four miles south of primary target. Secure the area and stand by for orders. That will be the likely site for collecting the 'bait'. Gamma team, your responsibility is recon to the north and west of the primary target. Make sure no Team Possible assets are able to come back towards the south to support their commander. Alpha team, your mission is to secure the primary target. If all goes well, we'll have them all neutralized before Team Possible arrives on the scene. Any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Carry on, then."

Drew calmly clicked off communications and relaxed back into his meditative pose. He considered everything he had done once more, went through every element of the plan. There were no weaknesses that he could see, nowhere the plan could fail as long it was executed faithfully. And he had no qualms about the abilities of his henchmen. For half an hour, he meditated on it, still finding no problems that needed any last minute adjustment. The console chirped once more.

"Yes."

"Sir, I wanted to advise you. The storm is producing some pretty heavy headwinds. It's going to delay our arrival to target."

"By how much?"

"It'll be a toss-up as to who arrives first."

Drew smiled, replying, "Very well. Make best speed. This possibility has also been planned for. Inform the teams that we will switch to plan Beta Four"

* * *

"...then you put on this strap like this, snap it down, then you're ready to go. Once the chute is on, you walk, not run, to the hatch and wait your turn to go. Jump straight out, count to three and then pull the cord."

Kim smiled, "Right, and where are the chutes?"

"Directly beneath our seats", said K-J reaching down and patting the bundle that was there.

"Good.", her mother replied contemplatively, "Well, that's everything I can think of. You girls really do know everything about this craft."

"Well, duh, Mom! We've only been asking to do this for all that time!", said Mim.

Kim leaned back against the fuselage and frowned, "Hey, don't get snippy with the Commander. I can still abort this mission any time"

Mim gave her an apologetic grin, "Sorry, Mom. It's just that you know how bad we wanted to do this."

Her mother put an arm around her shoulders and smiled, "I know, I know. Maybe I've been a little too protective."

"Ya think?", both twins deadpanned.

"And I will not apologize for that, young ladies.", Kim finished without missing a beat.

She sat there with her arm around Mim's shoulders, thinking back to the past when she first held them in her arms after giving birth to them, letting them take their first feeding. She recalled how she swore to herself that nothing would ever come anywhere near close enough to be able to harm them.

And now they were practically grown. Through the years she and Ron had trained them exactly as they planned, and the girls took to it as the most natural thing in the world, even better than their brothers. In time, they were able to give Kim a darn good fight, able to push her pretty hard, even though they still had not gotten to the point they could take her, even together. Kim knew they had not yet reached their full potential either. They still had some growing to do.

But what they had at fourteen was still impressive, and as good as she was when she was their age. She was just not going to ever admit it to them. And now Ron's vision may be the catalyst, what would finally allow them the chance to get their feet wet in the family business.

"So, what do you think, Mom?", asked K-J, "about Daddy's vision - thingy, whatever?"

Kim chuckled and said, "I trust your father's visions, honey. They've never steered me wrong, at least not yet."

The girls started to giggle. Kim looked at them puzzled, wondering what that was about.

"What?", she finally asked.

"You mean you _still_ trust him after he lured you to that fancy Italian restaurant with that 'vision' for your surprise birthday party?"

She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"That was an intentional fake and you know it!", she said firmly but jovially, "but I do really value his insight."

Then she mumbled and looked askance at her husband, "When he isn't being such a smartass."

Ron was sitting on the other side of the girls, chortling and smugly grinning the whole time, leaning back with his hands clasped behind his head. That set the girls to laughing again.

"Never heard that one, Mom. What's it mean?"

Kim was still looking at Ron with that leery look, "It means you're referring to someone trying to exhibit wit without education."

Ron looked appalled as he protested, 'I am too, educated! BA. MBA."

"That wasn't the type of education I was talking about, dear.", Kim replied, and the girls started to laugh with her as Ron started to pout.

"Women!', he groused, "Even my own daughters."

Their levity was quickly dampened when a beeper sounded over the intercom. They all looked up and Kim unstrapped herself.

"Commander.", came the call over the speaker.

"On my way.", said Kim as she signaled her daughters to stay put, then strode forward to the cockpit area, quickly followed by Ron.

"What's the sitch?", she asked when she got there.

"Radar's picking up ghosts of some sort. We're about to arrive at our target area, but something's happening. There's some sort of weird activity to the north."

Kim looked at the pilot's screen, but couldn't make out anything substantial. She brought up her wrist Kimmunicator and tapped on it. Wade soon appeared.

"Wade. I want you to tap into the radar signal from Dragonrider. Something funny is going on."

Wade pounded on his keyboard for a short while and then looked at his screen silently a few moments.

"I don't know, Kim. Never seen anything like this."

"Speculation?"

"It seems to move weird, almost. I dunno, like some sort of 'copter, but I've never seen a signature like this before. It seems to... ...Uh-oh, lost it."

Kim looked back at the screen in the cockpit and saw that it was gone there as well.

"Are there any military flights out this way we haven't been informed about?", she asked.

"None that I know of.", Wade replied, "I'll contact the Air Force base and make sure."

"Please and thank you. The last thing I need is a sudden midair collision."

"Right, Kim. I'll get back to you on that."

Kim looked back at Ron, finding him looking pensive.

"You know.", he said, "I've never heard of any military craft appearing like that. Are they doing some testing of new stuff out here?"

"I don't think so.", she said, "Their testing sites are usually in Nevada and Utah, not here."

"So. What is it? I'll go out on a limb and speculate this is some sneaky new kind of stealth helicopter that nobody knows about which is about to spring some sort of deadly trap on us because we have no idea that they're here, right?"

Kim looked at him strangely, "_What_ are you talking about?"

"What you're thinking about."

"No, that's what _you're_ thinking that."

"Uh, well?"

She frowned at him, "Ron! Spacing out here! Did you have another vision?"

"No."

"So! What gives?"

"I dunno. Seems logical to me."

She rolled her eyes and growled, "Well, keep it to yourself! I don't want you scaring everyone here."

He looked at her blankly but didn't answer. She looked at the screen again, hoping the anomaly would show up again, but it didn't. She was sure this was nothing, but...

She thought, 'No. I haven't had any hostile unit directly attack me like that in the continental US for years now. All the major villains not in jail are incapable...'

Drakken...

Tapping on her wrist Kimmunicator, Wade quickly responded.

"What up, Kim?"

"Wade, what chance do you think that signal was a hostile, maybe one meant for me?"

Wade frowned at her, delaying his answer for several seconds in thought before he spoke, "Normally I would have said zilch, nada. But with Drakken out now for fifteen plus years, I can't say."

"Even though he hasn't done anything in all that time."

Wade shrugged, "I can't give you a good estimate, Kim. Too little data. But I'll admit the odds are very unlikely."

Kim grimaced, "Okay, Wade. Thanks. Dragonrider out."

Wade smiled back and clicked off the screen.

'Yeah', she thought, 'The odds are very unlikely, which is exactly what will happen with the way our luck has been running lately.'

Speaking to the pilot, she said, "Make sure the combat team is ready. We may need them."

The pilot answered, "Aye, aye, ma'am", and hailed to the combat team leader over the intercom as Kim turned back towards the back of the plane with Ron in tow.

Suddenly, it seemed like bringing the girls along was a very bad idea.

* * *

Her lungs hurt like hell with every breath she took, and it took everything she had in her to keep from falling. Laboriously, Jill hung on to Larry's hand as they slogged through two foot deep snow, the wind howling down on their backs out of the north at forty to fifty miles an hour. Two hours after the shack had collapsed, they had barely made a mile, according to him. Yet he showed no hesitation at all. He kept pulling at her and making her walk, not allowing her to rest. He knew if she stopped, she would never start up again, though he didn't say it.

They broke out of the forest into a small clearing which turned out to be a lake, well frozen over. Out from under what little cover the trees gave, the wind was even fiercer here. His goggles were iced up and he cleared them with a quick wipe of his hand as he turned back to her. Pulling her to him, he yelled into her ear.

"The lake is frozen all the way across!. The shortest way to Sandidge's place is across it! The ice will hold up here. It's thick enough!"

Jill nodded in understanding, then asked, "Is this where he built that igloo?"

Larry nodded and yelled, "Yes! I kind of wish it was still here. It would make a good place to rest and warm up. But it isn't. Let's go!"

Jill nodded again, and Larry started to slog through the snow layer over the lake surface. Jill was tentative at first, but soon saw Larry knew what he was talking about. Steadily, they headed over the smooth ice. The wind continued to beat them down, the snow whipping them along like sled dogs and stinging bare skin when it chanced to touch them there. After several hundred feet, they passed a mound which surprised Jill at first, but then the visibility was so poor she wouldn't have seen it until they were right on it. It was just a small island in the lake. They quickly passed by it going for the other shore. It took them another twenty minutes before they reached it, and soon passed beyond into the thick forest growth. While it cut down on the wind's punishment, it still penalized them with the obstacles of fighting their way around and through the heavy growth and snow banks.

Step by step, they continued to plod through the thick snow cover. Jill couldn't feel her feet anymore. They were not yet to the point of frostbite, but she thought it wouldn't be long. She worried that Larry's feet were doing as badly.

Larry stopped.

He started looking around wildly for something. Jill was confused, not understanding. She reached up close and yelled.

"What?"

He shouted back, "Did you hear something?"

She looked around a second then turned back and shook her head 'no'.

"I thought. I guess not. Let's keep going!"

He grabbed her hand again and they resumed their slow progress. As they went, they were shadowed by dark shapes in the snow.

* * *

"Nearing the target, Commander."

Kim came up towards the front and looked out the windshield at the whitened landscape. The Sunhawk entered hover mode and looked directly over the spot where Tara's car was supposed to be. She had to peer closely to see the mound of snow just off the side of the road, which by itself was almost unrecognizable But the mound had a distinctive enough shape. Kim called back to the combat team leader.

"Sergeant, send a couple of men down there and find out what the sitch is."

The team leader barked out some commands and a roar suddenly filled the air as the hatch was opened. The men rappelled rapidly to the ground and slogged through to the unusual snow bank. One of them went to the rear of it and cleared away the snow. In short order he had reached the end of a solid object and inspected it, then looked up at the Sunhawk.

"Hey, Sarge.", he commed, "This definitely is the car we're looking for. License plate matches."

"Good.", the team leader replied, "Check it out."

The two men went around the driver's side of the car and dug a path to it. They soon gained the interior of the car. The first man who commed did so again.

"Yeah, Sarge, looks like ComIntel was right on the money. The interior's burnt up from what appears to be a flash fire. Definitely looks like a ruptured fuel cell."

Kim's heart went into her throat.

"Any sign of the girl?"

"Not inside. She had to have gotten out."

Kim breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The Team leader looked up at her, now standing beside him next to the open hatch.

"What do you say, Commander."

She looked down at the scene, then all around. Clearly, the storm had obliterated all of the tracks that Jill might have left. And she had no idea which way she would have gone, but she was sure that Jill would most likely follow the road one way or the other.

"Okay, Sergeant.", she said, "Take your men and scout down both sides of the road, Half going west, half going east. Check it out for about a mile or two and see if you find anything. We'll pick you up with units five and six."

"Aye aye, ma'am... ...and I hope we don't find her."

"I understand. Thanks. We're going on to check the cabin."

The team leader turned and yelled at his men.

"Let's move it! We've got work to do! Go! Go!"

The combat team rapidly deployed to the ground and began to fan out. The team leader was the last one out, giving Kim a thumbs up sign as he dropped of the edge. When he was on the ground, he let loose of his line and Kim detached it and let it drop down to him. He recovered it, and the team spread out to cover their assignment. Their weather gear would keep them safe and warm enough until the other Sunhawks came to pick them up. Kim shut the door and secured the hatch. Then she called up to the front.

"Okay, let's find the cabin."

"Aye aye, Commander."

The Sunhawk veered off and rose above the trees, going almost due east. Kim went up front again with Ron again. The girls stayed in their seats just as Kim told them, but were fidgety with excitement. Scanning the horizon, Kim could see a plume of thin smoke rising before them.

"There.", Kim said, "I'll bet that's it."

The Sunhawk headed straight for it and reached the site in three minutes, where they found a scene of devastation. The cabin must have been a one room structure that seemed old and dilapidated, but it was nothing but smoking rubble now. The rock chimney had broken down and was in ruins, multiple blocks of stone scattered among the charred remains. Behind the collapsed structure there was an old antique truck, now black and ruined from the fire, the tires blown out from the heat, although it otherwise looked fairly intact.

Ron looked around and said, "Wait Look there! There!"

Everyone's attention was diverted to their left to what Ron had spotted. There was a thin rut in the snow there. Kim's heart leaped to her throat when she saw it.

"That's it!", she cried, 'Someone's alive out there. Let's go find her. With any luck, Jill will be the one!"

"Commander.", said the pilot, 'It looks like there are two ruts out there. There are two people, at least."

'Two people?', thought Kim, hope gathering in her heart, 'Maybe Mr. Daniels did find Jill after all.'

"Okay, guys!', she shouted out, "Lets go! We got people to rescue here!"

The Sunhawk roared off, following the rut in the line. Kim could see it headed across the highway and into the woods towards the south. This presented a problem as they found it almost impossible to follow the trail through there.

"Where's the nearest habitation?", asked Kim.

"About four miles south of here.", replied the pilot, "There's that farm down there."

Kim smiled as she issued her orders, "That's got to be where they're headed! Make for the farm, Lieutenant! Watch for the tracks in case we see them on the way!"

"Aye aye, ma'am!", said the pilot as he veered the Sunhawk sharply to the south.

* * *

Larry's beard was completely coated with ice crystals, his eyebrows whited out with frost. He knew he was past the point of exhaustion, yet he was able to ignore it, managing to keep pushing one foot through the snow after the other. The weight on his arm kept getting heavier and heavier, making him pull harder. He figured they must have gone three, maybe three and a half miles now. His feet were gone, no feeling left in them. He knew frostbite was setting in. A mile back, Jill was in such pain from the cold in her feet that he feared she wouldn't be able to travel further. Finding a grove of trees that kept the wind out fairly well, he set her down against a bole and fumbled around his pack. He got out his extra pair of socks and then shielded her feet with his body from the weather as well as he could while he took her boots off and changed her socks. The old ones were soggy and starting to freeze like his were. He would have done the same except it was his last pair. Using a warming pack, he worked some circulation back into her feet when he put the fresh socks on and then laced her boots back on.

It took such a supreme effort to get her back up and moving. She was almost going to sleep on him, but finally she responded to his yelling and dragging until she stood back up and numbly followed him as he pulled her along. The winds were still howling at around forty miles an hour, the ice crystals cutting both his and Jill's skin like small flying knives. She stumbled half the time, past any ability to comprehend what was happening. Yet he marveled she lasted this long. He had thought she would have given out before the halfway mark. Fortunately, visibility had improved a little, to about a quarter of a mile. This enabled Larry to recognize he was close to Sandidge's farm, and it spurred him on. He quickened his pace in anticipation, starting to really think that they would make it, that they would reach safety.

His arm was nearly wrenched off his shoulder from behind as Jill collapsed into the snow.

He bent down and turned her over in his arms.

"Jill!", he yelled, "Get up! get up!. We're almost there. It won't be long!"

He shook her vigorously trying to get her to respond, but she lay limp in his grasp.

"Jill! Come on. It's close! You can't stop now!"

He shook her again, more violently.

"Jill!", he cried.

She opened her eyes slowly and gasped, waking up slightly and turning to him, her face engorged in pain.

"I can't", she whispered, "I... ...can't. I..."

She passed out as Larry yelled at her again.

She didn't respond. Larry kneeled in the snow, his head bent over her as his own breathing rasped in and out, feeling lost. He was so close. If only... ...if only...

The desolation of it all came crashing down on him as he started to sob into Jill's hair while he held her. But as he held her, it reminded of the past, when he held another girl, his daughter. When he held his wife, and he remembered what it felt like, stroking her golden hair, and a rage built inside of him.

He screamed into the wind, "We're not going to die here! You hear me, Jill? We are not going to die! I will get you back!"

Groaning with agony, he got back up on his feet, pulling Jill's unconscious form up and draping her over his back in a fireman's carry. He took a step, then another, then another, until he got a rhythm going. His breathing became more ragged and he grunted almost with every breath. But he kept going. He shut out the pain, refusing to acknowledge what was happening to his feet. For the next half mile, over thirty minutes, he carried her, stumbling only once, and still he got back up and continued. He worked his way around the trees of the dense forest, occasionally checking his compass to make he was still headed south. Then out of the blur ahead of him, the trees disappeared.

He had came up against a hill, and he recognized it. The landscape was clear of forest. If this was the pasture he recognized, the Sandidge house would be on the next hill over, about a half mile away. Galvanized, he trudged out of the trees into the merciless wind and knife-like ice crystals. He made his way up the slope, shoving his legs through the three foot powder snow that clung to them and tried to drag him down. It was slower now. His legs screamed from lactic acidosis and his breathing was harsh enough to over come the noise of the wind. He kept moving. His mind was oblivious to everything else. It knew nothing but reaching his goal. There was no pain, no snow, no wind, no nothing, just the act of walking, only walking.

He didn't realize it when he reached the top of the hill and looked out across the small valley, where he saw the asylum of the Sandidge farm house, so close. He cried out, his eyes wide in realization now, that he really could make it. He faltered only a step as he cried out in a harsh croak.

"Jill! Jill! We made it! We made it!"

Almost losing his balance, he quickened his pace as he started down the hill on the other side. He was smiling as he stared at the house, seeing nothing else. The noise in the wind suddenly changed as it whipped up around him, a dark shape leaping out of the blurring snow and snapping at him, missing his face by inches. Shocked, he dropped Jill and fell backwards beside her, scrambling back. Frantically reaching back into his backpack he rummaged around and luckily found the Mag-Lite. He whipped it out, brandishing it in front of him. The dark shape landed out of clear vision, looking indistinct in the snow, and then another shape joined it to the right, then a third behind him. Jill was out cold, a lump in the snow. Larry scanned around quickly, frantically trying to figure out what he was going to do next, because he knew what he faced. This was confirmed by the low growl as the first indistinct form approached, slowly revealing itself into the bared fangs and snarl of the large grey wolf which had tracked him for some time now. The other wolves also started to growl as they closed in.

Larry crouched over Jill's immobile form, trying to cover her as best he could, whipping his improvised weapon around at one wolf, then another. But he knew there was no way he would win this battle.

The tears started to come down his face, freezing before they hit his beard, knowing he had failed after all.

"I'm sorry, Jill!", he cried, "I'm so sorry!"

* * *

The henchman watched the Sunhawk move suddenly away. As soon as it was gone, he and the rest of his team came out of hiding as he commed the Skywolf.

"Sir, they're headed south."

"Just as I expected.", came the reply, "No matter. Go ahead and reconnoiter the area and pick up anything of value that may help us identify our quarry. You will avoid contact with the ground troops. They cannot interfere with the mission at this point. You will rejoin us on the road at the pickup zone."

"Yes, sir. On the way."

"Good.", said Drew as he cut communication and then commed the pilot.

"Go to the road and pick up the team there. Once they're on board, head for the farm to the south. Take it slow and stay in stealth mode. I want our prey to remain unawares and for them to reach the farm first."

"Yes sir."

He clicked the console off and leaned back in his seat. He steeplechased his fingers under his nose and brooded on his next move. Standing next to him, Drakken waited, but saw he wasn't going to say anything.

"Well?", he finally asked when he ran out of patience.

"Very simple, great uncle.", replied Drew, "Beta team is on the ground at the farm. They'll take care of the 'quarry' when they reach it."

"And your agent?"

Drew smiled evilly, "Already making sure the girl is going for the farm. It really doesn't matter if she gets there, as long as Possible does. I've sent Skywolf Six away from there to help with the reconnaissance to the north and to recover the rest of the teams, now that we have confirmation of where our target is heading. We'll follow Team Possible down in Skywolf One and meet them at about the same time they reach Beta Team. By that time, if Team Possible is as good as their reputation is, they'll have defeated our men there. If the girl gets there, she'll be rescued. If not, Possible is still where I want her to be. They'll all be inside their aircraft, and then..."

"And then?"

Drew grinned even more malevolently.

"And then I'll blast them all the way to Mars."

* * *

**The battle ensues in the next chapter. I hope to have that one out in just a few days.**


	8. A Crucible of Destiny

**And now comes the crucial moment of fate. This is pure action here. And yet it won't quite be what you think it is...**

**A Crucible of Destiny**

The wolf snarled louder, its teeth flashing as it neared its intended prey. Whipping his Mag-lite around, Larry saw the other two also slowly creeping towards him from different angles of attack. He tried to shout and wave the big flashlight around, lunging at the wolves whenever he could. They were wary, but not enough to overcome the hunger they felt. Larry lunged at the closest one again as it came within striking distance and it quickly backed out of the way, snapping its jaws at him. It could sense the heavy object should not be ignored lightly, but it also knew that his prey was too vulnerable, and would soon fall.

Larry heard the wolf behind him growl even closer and turned his attention to him, swinging the Mag-Lite around again in a frantic sweep, making the animal jump back out of the way, but it left him open and vulnerable. The first wolf crouched down and leaped through the air for Larry's unprotected back, its jaws opening to envelope his neck and snap it as soon as it hit.

It never heard the crack in the air as the rifle round smacked it square center on its body, literally knocking it off to the side where it yelped once and lay still. Surprised by the new arrivals, the other two wolves quickly lowered their ears, looking around, trying to spot the new danger. Another crack sounded through the howling wind, and a second wolf lurched and dropped yowling before it too went silent in the snow. The third predator had had enough. It quickly loped off in into the blinding snow and was lost in the blur.

Stunned, Larry looked up in the direction of the sound. At first, he heard nothing, saw nothing. He looked around, trying to see if maybe he had mistaken the direction from which his sudden salvation had come. Gradually, he saw a shape slowly materialize. Straining to see through the flying snow, he made out an old man dressed in a black jacket carrying a rifle.

Relieved, Larry slumped down to the ground as the man came up to him.

"Thank God!", he yelled through the wind, "Thank you, Pete! Thank you!. You're a life saver! Literally!"

The grizzled old man looked down on him, a frown on his face. Even in this weather he disdained the use of goggles.

"Are you nuts, boy!", he growled, "What in tarnation are you doing out in this weather? Are you _trying _to get yourself killed?"

Larry laughed sardonically, although it came out more as croaking.

"Same old Pete Sandidge!", he cried, "You never give anybody a break, do you?"

"Not if they don't deserve it!", the old man retorted, "I always thought you were a little on the weird side, boy, especially after knowing your uncle! You sure seem to take after him!"

Larry just nodded and smiled back, his lips cracking, "Yeah, I know, old man, I know. But it isn't my fault this time!"

"How do you figure that?"

"Emergency. The weight of the snow collapsed my shack this morning, and this girl crashed through my door night before last. I've got to get her home to her mother."

"I would have thought you needed get back your own wife and kid!"

Larry nodded solemnly then, the smile gone, "That too, Pete, that too. I've been away too long."

"About time!", grumbled the old man, as he reached down and started to help Larry up.

As he did, Larry groaned heavily. Pete looked closely at him, then looked down, noting the ice buildup on his boots. A concerned look on his face, he looked back up at the taller man.

"How long you been out here?"

"Too long.', groaned Larry, enduring the pain.

"Frostbite?"

Larry nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

Pete Sandidge frowned in disapproval again, "Now why'd you go and do a durned fool thing like that for?"

Larry sighed and looked at him, "Couldn't be helped. She couldn't make it all the way from my place to yours. I've been carrying her for about a mile now."

The old man bent down and looked at Jill's face, upturned in the snow as the flakes accumulated on her eyebrows.

"Pretty little thing."

""Yeah, looks like her mother."

"You know her?"

"She's a doctor." he said between gasping breaths, "She's treating... ...treating Melissa."

"Well, I guess you didn't have a choice then, did you?"

"Not really. You see why. It's because I... ...I owe her mother."

"I guess you do."

Larry shook his head to clear the cobwebs out as he reached down and slowly picked Jill's unconscious form back up. Sandidge assisted as best he could until Larry got her back into the fireman's carry position. Then he started to walk again, his face grimacing with every step. The old man stayed by his side.

Pete Sandidge shook his head as he watched, "We have to get a look at your feet as soon as we're inside."

"We make sure Jill's okay first,", said Larry.

"Sure thing.", replied Sandidge, "But I'm more worried about your feet."

"I know.", the younger man said, "I haven't felt them at all... ...for two hours now."

Slowly, they trudged down the small valley and started back up the slope that led to the farm house, so inviting with every step he took. He was able to ignore the pain better, now that he knew he had made it. He had saved Jill.

"I'll go open the front door.", the old man said, and he hurried along and rounded the side of the house to the front.

"Sure.", Larry whispered as he kept going. He finally hit a pathway where Sandidge had cleared the snow away from the side of the house, making it easier to walk.

He turned the corner of the house and went to the left to where the front door was. He looked up just as he heard a clicking sound next to his ear. He stopped suddenly, finding himself staring at a red suited paramilitary type in a white snow parka, the muzzle of his rifle aimed at the center of his forehead. He looked behind the man and saw Sandidge spreadeagled up against the side of the house as two more paramilitaries were frisking him, a third holding on to his rifle. A fourth man came up from the side, some sort of small insignia on his collar indicating him as the leader. He was followed by even more men.

Larry could not see his eyes through the goggles, which they all wore. But he had a hard set mouth that looked cruel. The man reached over and lifted Jill's head up from where it was bobbing on Larry's shoulder, looking closely at her. Then he nodded, satisfied.

"Okay.", he said, "She's the one. Fits the description."

Larry looked hard at him, 'What do you mean? What do you want with her?"

Obviously, these guys were not searching for her as part of a rescue mission.

The leader looked at him, an angry twist on his mouth, "None of your damn business. Now put her down. She's coming with us."

"Like hell she is!", Larry yelled, "She's staying with me!"

He collapsed in the snow from the rifle butt that smacked him in the back of the head. The leader looked down at the two crumpled forms in the snow.

"Okay, get her ready for transport. Call the Skywolf to come get us."

"What about him?"

"Let him freeze in the snow."

The sounds of aircraft jet engines started to filter through from above.

"Looks like they're already here, sir."

The leader smiled grimly, "Yeah, good."

"Sir, what about the old man?"

The leader looked around Pete Sandidge, a snarl on the old man's face as two burly henchmen held him fast. The leader grinned even more evilly.

"Tie him up, and throw him into the house. In fact throw the other guy in there too. Then burn it down. Destroy it all."

* * *

"Commander!", yelled the medic team leader, "There's incoming for you up front!"

Kim looked out the hatchway straining as much the others trying to get a glimpse of the terrain, making sure they didn't overrun their targets. Squinting one last time into the storm, she pulled back out and headed towards the cockpit. When she got there, the pilot spoke up.

"It's a message from overseas.", he said.

"Shift it to the Kimmunicator", said Kim, bringing her wrist monitor up.

The screen brightened into life, revealing a very familiar face she did not expect to see. Her thick black mane now streaked in white with some grey, the still beautiful visage did not look particularly pleased as she stared in irritation at her adopted sister.

"Shego!", gasped Kim, "Oh my gosh, It's been so long!"

"That's right, Princess", she returned in monotone, "But was it so long that you felt you didn't need to call me to tell me Tara's daughter was missing? Are you for real? _Why didn't you call me_?"

Kim cringed under her rebuke, ""Oh, gee! Look, I'm really sorry! But it wouldn't have helped! Really! We had it covered. I know you're overseas right now in Geneva with Eric, and that's too far away!There wasn't anything more you could have done to help! And I didn't want to worry you!"

Shego rolled her eyes, then castigated her, "Kimmie! Come on! You know better than that! After what Tara did for Mikey? _Are you kidding_? You should have called me right off the bat! I would have been there in a heart beat!"

Kim looked at her apologetically and replied, "Look, sis. I know how you feel. But I've called out practically every reserve unit in TP to find her, and it's worked! We located her car and where she went into the storm."

Shego went pale, "What? She's spent two days out in that weather?"

"It's okay, Shego!", Kim reassured her, "I believe she found shelter. And we are just about to find her, I think."

Shego listened to the ambient noise, "You're in the Sunhawk?"

"Yeah!", said Kim, "We're on the hunt. We _are_ about to find her! I can feel it. There's no need for you to scramble on this one."

"Too late, Princess.", Shego said with a smirk, "ETA in about six hours."

Kim gasped again, this time in joyful surprise, the happiness suffusing her face, "No way! You're coming! For Christmas?"

Shego's face relaxed into a joyful smile as she chuckled, "Hey, I was going to come anyway. As soon as I heard about Jill, it just pushed my timetable up some, that's all. But I figured it was time, and I'm bringing the kids and Eric."

Kim thrilled to the news. Ever since the brain tumor which affected her so badly was removed, Shego and Kim had bonded into sisters in every way but by blood. Both were there for each other when they married, had their children, when they had each other's back, as Team Possible and Team Go saved the world together on several occasions. But their lives changed about eight years ago when Eric was offered the directorship of anti-terrorism activities in Global Justice, which had its main office in Geneva, Switzerland. Shego and Eric really sweated making the decision, but in the end thought it was the best move they could make.

This required Eric to commute back and forth and Shego had to stay home a lot more and take care of the family and more domestic duties, which of course was not a favorite activity of hers, but she was committed. And of course she still had to lead Team Go. It meant they couldn't see as much of each other's families as they had before. Their oldest son, Erik, was now attending an elite private high school in Go City and about to graduate. Their daughter Micaela was ten, and would not even be here had it not been for Tara, who treated and cured her leukemia when she was only four years old. In the early days, Shego and Eric often brought the kids over to visit and sometimes Kim and Ron would take both sets of twins to Go City. The kids had almost grown up together in those years.

But then Eric took the job in Geneva, and Kim and Ron took up the government's offer of support for Team Possible. In that time, life got very busy for both of them. Although there were several times both Eric and Shego saw Kim and Ron during those eight years, it was always on a professional job, going out to save the world. There never seemed to be enough time to just visit. Kim and Ron had not gotten to see Erik or Mikey hardly at all then. Even more so, the kids had not seen each other for the entire eight years, except when Micaela got sick and was in TPMC for a time for her treatments. Kim always regretted they got too busy not to just have time for all the members of both families to get together. And it looked like Shego managed to beat her to fixing it.

Kim was gushing, "That's great, Shego! I've so missed seeing them! I am _so_ sorry I didn't make time before."

"Don't sweat it, Kimmie.", Shego said smiling, "You're not the only one to let her work get in the way of things like that."

"Thanks, sis", Kim replied gratefully, "I owe you one."

Shego cocked an eyebrow at her, "And I'm going to collect on that debt, Pumpkin."

Kim looked slightly askance at her and paused, saying, "Sparring match?"

Shego grinned hungrily, "What do you say?"

Her competitive spirit coming forth, Kim answered, "You're on!"

"Usual rules?"

"Word, Sister!"

"I'll hold you to it.", Shego replied still smiling, "See you then. Out."

Kim shut off the Kimmunicator and ran towards the back of the Sunhawk, gleefully throwing herself into Ron's arms as she told him Shego was coming for Christmas.

"For real?", cried Ron.

"For real!", Kim responded, laughing as she kissed him.

"Booyah!", he yelled, "All right! You know we really have been bad about not visiting them like we should have."

"Tell me about it!", Kim replied, a little down, "But we got so busy doing this, doing that, getting caught up with the government stuff."

"True.", Ron said with a grimace, scratching his head, "And of course, with Eric in Geneva..."

"Shego said as much. But, hey!", she said, excited again, " It's Christmas and they're going to be here for the holidays. We can start again!"

Ron smiled back at her, "Yeah, we can. It'll be great. And it'll be even better if we manage to pull out of our contract with the government."

Kim eyed him knowingly and said, "Still think we can do it, Loverboy?"

Ron chuckled with a grin, "Well if this bean counter can't do it, no one can."

Kim pulled him back in and kissed him, whispering, "My hero."

Ron enjoyed his brief rapture before she let go, then sighed, "Now that's what I'm talking about— ."

Something bumped into them. He and Kim turned to see the twins looking wide-eyed at them. They had unbuckled themselves to come see what the big news was.

"What are you—."

"—talking about?"

"I though I heard you say Shego was coming and— ."

"—she was bringing the family."

Kim and Ron looked at each other momentarily before breaking out laughing, then Ron spoke.

"You heard right, girls. Aunt Shego and Uncle Eric are coming. They should be here in about six hours."

"Critical!", cried K-J, "That's really cool, Dad! I missed Erik and Mikey. It's been so long."

"You bet!", said Mim, a far away look on her face as she reminisced, "I remember Erik, too. We used to have a lot of fun together back then. I sure missed him when Uncle Eric took that job in Europe. And of course it'll be great to see Mikey."

"They're looking forward to seeing you too.", Kim said, looking at them with some consternation, "Now what are you doing out of your seats? This isn't protocol."

The twins were slightly taken aback, K-J saying, "But, Mom! You were talking about Aunt Shego!"

"That's no excuse, young lady. Now back with both of you and strap yourselves in. You've found out all about it now."

"Okaaaayyy.', they replied grudgingly, trudging back towards their seats, but as they did they began to hurriedly whisper between each other.

Ron listened for a minute, then shook his head as he joined Kim back at the hatchway.

She was looking out into the snowstorm again, still going strong, but visibility had begun to improve to where they could see the ground fairly well at this point. The snowfall itself was dropping off, and they could see the trees and most of the ground cover.

Without looking at Ron, she asked him, "Were they speaking Tweeb again?"

"Oh, yeah.", Ron said, a little frustrated, "I swear if it wasn't for your brothers uploading the Kimmunicator with that translation program, we would be in big trouble."

"Way Big!", Kim retorted, "We'd never be able to catch them at half the stuff they try to do."

"Commander.", said the pilot via intercom, "Looks like we found it."

Putting their goggles one, they looked out into the swirling snow, trying to make out an unusual dark shape that had appeared on the horizon, notable as a thin plume of smoke coming up from it.

Ron pointed, "That's got to be the farm."

"Right.", said Kim as she switched the Kimmunicator over for on board communications, "Lieutenant, swing in low just over the tree line and keep as close to the ground. I don't want to miss seeing their tracks just in case they haven't quite made it there."

"Aye, aye, ma'am.", came the reply.

"That's assuming we guessed right.", Ron said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I know.", returned Kim, worried, "But it's still the best guess we have."

The looked back out the hatchway and scoured the countryside, looking for any clue that Jill had come through the area. Heading for the smoke plume, the Sunhawk slowed down to allow better surveillance of the ground, but still made it there in three minutes. As they pulled up closer to the house, they rounded to the east and came in, popping over the tree line to get a full view of it, and noticing activity all around it.

Kim's eyes widened and she shouted, "Look, Ron!"

Ron immediately snapped his attention to what she saw. As they came up to the east side of the house, they saw a small platoon of armed paramilitaries around the house. Close to the front door, they saw two of them tying someone up. Another figure was inert in the snow while a smaller figure, similarly unmoving, had been picked up and was being carried over the shoulder of one man.

Ron pointed to the smaller figure and shouted, "Look at her hair! That's got to be Jill!"

"But who are these guys?", yelled Kim, "And what do they want with her?"

"Jill?", shouted the twins suddenly popping up again next to their parents as soon as they heard Jill's name, "Mom! What do we do?"

Kim gasped and stood up, "I told you to stay put!"

Laser blasts began to pour into the Sunhawk. Kim lurched into her daughters and pushed them out of the line of fire.

* * *

The men holding Pete Sandidge managed to finish tying him up and gagging him. Another man had picked Jill up and swung her over his shoulder. Two others had grabbed two gasoline cans out of Sandidge's barn and were headed for the house to soak it down. The whine of the jet engines gathered strength as the craft approaching the house closed the distance to the house.

The leader's XO said, "We should have this done in two shakes, then we can bug out to the LZ and scoot."

"Great!", said the leader, "It'll be good to get back to base."

The whine of the engines became louder. The craft was not yet visible, but it sounded strange. The leader's XO looked up.

"Uh-oh."

"What?", said the leader.

"The sound is wrong. That's no Skywolf."

The leader jerked his head up in the direction just as the Sunhawk appeared over the trees and hovered there, closing in on the house.

The leader yelled, "Everyone! Heads up! Enemy craft! Open Fire! Now!"

The man carrying Jill dropped her and started blazing away, as did the men holding Sandidge. Suddenly dropped in the snow, the old man looked around in surprise to find himself free, then hurriedly scampered up to his feet and ran off to find cover. Nobody paid him any attention. The leader himself whipped his own rifle around and began to squeeze off forty watt plasma blasts at the new threat.

* * *

Two laser shots caromed off the interior fuselage and Kim looked up at the twins, anger exploding into her face.

"I _told_ you to stay put!", she yelled at them as they cowered into a bulkhead.

The Sunhawk returned fire and was able to suppress it enough to force the paramilitaries to run for cover, but thsy continued to harass the Sunhawk from there. Kim sprang back to the hatchway, quickly evaluating the situation, and seeing this new threat needed to be taken out, and taken out quick. The Sunhawk veered around to where the hatchway would present a minimal target, yet still afford some view of the fire fight zone.

The girls got back up. As they brushed themselves off, Kim looked back and sternly shouted, "You get back there to your—!"

"KP! Not now! Look over here!", said Ron.

Kim looked at him, glared again at the girls in warning to stay out of trouble, then looked out the hatchway again. Scanning the scene, an occasional laser shot harmlessly banging off the fuselage, he pointed out what he saw.

"They're ganging up in one line there, and a group over there!", he said, "They're not spreading out!"

"Well they can't and stay within sight of the Sunhawk to try and bring her down!"

"Ain't going to happen, you know! Not with our armor plating! But we don't have the combat team here! Looks like we're the only ones who can take them out!"

Kim looked at him hard, "You know that's a violation of the provision of our contract with the government!"

"You're already in violation by being out here anyway! You're really worried about that?"

Kim paused as she looked at him, the wind whipping her hair around as the sound of lasers and 30 millimeter gunship rounds pounded through the air, and a slow smile came over her face.

"As if!", she cried, "Come on! We can both take them down! You ready to go?"

Ron looked back at the girls briefly, still huddling to themselves a few steps away. They still had not gone back to their seats, but dared not incur their mother's wrath any further by coming closer. In a surprise move to both Kim and the girls, he gestured, signaling them to come to him. Their eyes wide in shock, they slowly approached their father, and he gathered them in front, all facing a startled Kim, her face going pale.

"Ron?", she cried out, "What are you doing? _You are not taking the girls into combat_!"

He shook his head and replied, "No , not that, Kim. You see, we trained the girls well. And you... ...you really trained the girls well. You've really pushed them hard. They're getting to the point where they can start to push you back, hard...

"But I know they aren't ready for this. That's because they haven't been pushed to the extreme. You see, they've never really seen you go all out. They have never seen the real Kim Possible in action."

K-J and Mim looked up at their father, confusion on their faces, then looked back at their mother.

Kim stared at Ron, unsure of where he was going with this.

"I know what you can do, Kim.", Ron continued solemnly, "I've known it since we were pre-teens. I've known it from the fight in the Caribbean with Shego, and when I was with you taking out Drakken at the end, during the fighting in the Middle East, protecting the royal family in Saudi Arabia, at the Pakistan frontier, and the temple of the Great Trine. And I have absolutely no doubts on that whatsoever. I... ...never... ...have."

He knelt down, one arm around each of the twins. He looked lovingly at each of them before looking back at his wife.

"I'm not going out with you on this one, Kim. Not because I don't want, but because I don't need to. This is one you should do by yourself. That's because the girls need to know who and what their mother is, what she does that makes her so unique. They need to see exactly why she's Kim Possible, and why she.. ...can... ...do... ...anything."

Ron got back up and moved to one side as Kim gazed at her daughters, the moment unexpectedly frozen in time. Even the sounds of gunfire momentarily faded. K-J and Mim were confused, having no idea what to expect. They saw their mother standing there, unmoving, blinking her eyes for a moment, seemingly just as clueless as they were...

Then they gasped as they saw the startling transformation come over her. Her eyes came alive with emotion, a feral grin taking over her face, a wave of sheer energy and confidence pouring over her very being as she continued to gaze steadily at them both, and they saw something else that helped drive the change. There was love in her eyes also, love for her girls.

She turned and looked quickly out of the hatchway, scanning the fire zone and reassessing the situation for a few moments. As she did, the girls cautiously moved up behind her to get a better view. When she was sure, she turned and looked at them again, smiling and reaching out to them. As one, the girls embraced her on either side and hugged her fiercely, then Kim kissed each one as she released them, a look of pure ferocity and joy exuding out of her. Ron came up from behind and proudly put a hand on each twin's shoulder. Kim switched on the Kimmunicator and yelled her instructions to the pilot. Then she stepped back and faced her daughters.

"Girls.", Kim said, the look of a predator now dominating her countenance, "Let an old pro show you how it's done."

The Sunhawk swerved and pulled up rapidly, and with a lightning quick turn she perched down on the lip of the hatchway and leaped out of the Sunhawk.

* * *

"Sir!" yelled the XO as he paused to reload a power cartridge.

"What?", shouted the leader in between plasma rifle bursts.

"We're not getting through with these laser rifles! Their armor's too good!"

"I know that!", retorted the leader, "We just need to keep them off of us until the Skywolf comes!"

"But can we fight off their combat team as well? They've got M-29's!"

He leader poured three more bursts into the target and grunted in frustration as he saw them rebound off the titanium alloy armor. He turned back to his XO.

"They don't have one!", he cried out smugly, "If they had those troops, they would have landed already! This bird is obviously staffed just with medical personnel for the girl!"

"But what if they have something else? Or somebody else?"

They fired a few more rounds as the Sunhawk began to veer slightly, positioning itself so the open hatchway was a little more visible. The aircraft's thirty millimeter cannon suddenly spewed the ground around them with several dozen rounds, making them duck for cover. They stayed down as they reloaded power cartridges again.

"And just who do you think would take on twenty five mercs out of that bird other than combat troops?", the leader spat back as he hugged the bole of the tree between him and the Sunhawk.

"I don't know! Maybe Kim Possible herself!", retorted the XO, a little exasperated that the leader was dismissing him so lightly.

"Hah!", the leader exclaimed as he leaned around the tree to take aim again, "She's _so_ over the hill! She hasn't been seen in action in over eight years now! No way!"

The Sunhawk had taken off and moved out of the line of fire, momentarily hidden behind the house as it came around it, trying to keep moving to make it more difficult to be hit. But it was also maneuvering, and the leader wasn't quite sure for what. Holding still and quiet, the leader, the XO, and several of his nearby men waited tensely with their laser rifles trained on the point they were sure the craft would appear again, but instead of going past the house, it suddenly popped into sight and headed over the roof directly at them. Surprised, they pulled their weapons up and fired, missing most of their shots, the rest ricocheting off the bottom of the craft. Then the Sunhawk abruptly stopped and pulled up, twisting around, revealing the hatchway.

"Uh-oh.", said the XO.

"What now?", shouted the Leader in exasperation.

"What was that you were saying about Kim Possible?"

The leader looked up to see one flame haired female figure shooting out of the Sunhawk, soaring out of the sunlight and heading directly for his position. He grimaced, and a tinge of fear crept into his voice.

"Oh... ...snap."

* * *

The alarms on the bed's multi-scanner went off mobilizing everyone on the ward into immediate action. The charge nurse slammed on the emergency button on her console and rushed towards the room as the call went out over the intercom...

"Code Blue. Ward Six. Code Blue. Ward Six. Code Blue."

Respiratory personnel started to pour in from the general medical ward along with their nurses, following the charge nurse herself into the room. Quickly scanning the monitor, she saw the heart rhythm faltering, starting to go in and out of ventricular fibrillation. The blood pressure dropped down to forty over twenty. Momentarily startled, the charge nurse looked back for someone else to take over, but there was no one yet. She had to start the code.

"Okay. Let's start with epinephrine, one amp—"

"Cancel that!", yelled Dr. Monroe as she strode into the room, a robe over her nightgown, "Charge the paddles. Sixty joules. Now! Keep that epinephrine ready. Also get an amp of atropine up! Let's go, people! Give me vitals!"

Another nurse felt the girl's neck, "Got a pulse! Weak and thready! Maybe one twenty, one forty rate! BP forty-six over eighteen!"

"Good!", yelled Tara, "I need a bag of amiodarone and a drip ready, ASAP!"

"V-Tach!"

"Shock her, now!"

By this time, the respiratory techs had cleared the patient's chest and the charge nurse held the paddles down to her chest.

"Clear!", she yelled, as everyone else backed off.

She pushed the release buttons and the girls body arched upward a moment then flopped back down.

"What do we have?", snapped Tara.

They waited a moment as the monitor strip screen recovered from the shock, a straight line emerging initially and then jiggling around as the automatic pacers of the heart began to fire off, trying to get into a regular rhythm. First one beat, then two, then three. Suddenly, another abnormal squirming of the line burst onto the screen and suddenly disappeared as the heart struggled to return to normalcy.

"Trying to go back to sinus, Doctor. Still threatening to go back to V-tach."

Amiodarone, now! Have you got the dose calculated for her weight?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good! Do it! Charge the paddles again! One hundred twenty joules!"

The charge nurse turned and pressed the button to charge the defibrillator as another nurse took the vial and stuck the needle into the IV port nearest the patient's arm. Just as she finished it, the heart rate started up again, but this time, it staggered and slogged, beating barely twenty beats a minute.

"Atropine! Half an amp!"

The charge nurse moved quickly to administer the drug through the same IV Port, but before she could get it done, the heart monitor went crazy again as the V-tach burst out again onto the screen.

"Shock her again!"

"Clear!"

The charge nurse held the paddles against Melissa's chest and pressed the buttons. As the little girl's body arched into the air once again, other personnel went to gather the other occupant of the room and take her outside. In that far corner, Samantha Daniels huddled against the walls with a look of sheer terror in her eyes, the tears streaming down as she held her hands over her face.

* * *

The console beeped as a blue hand reached down and pressed the button.

"Yes?"

"Sir, it looks like we have a fire fight going on at the farm."

Drew smiled as he paused and considered the news.

"Good. That was what I anticipated. The wolves were to make sure that was where they went. And although they were at liberty to take them down, it looks like our agent successfully made sure the girl got to the farm as planned. Now, take it slow. I want our forces to have enough time to finish the job and get everyone on board. If Kim Possible follows her standard protocol she'll leave our men to be taken in by the other Sunhawks, as she will likely want to get her rescued victims to the medical center for treatment. I don't want to show up before they have a chance to be gathered together in one craft."

"Standard approach then, sir?"

Drew smiled even wider, "Exactly. Full stealth mode and silent flight protocols. I don't want them to know we're there until we actually fire on them."

"Yes, sir.", said the pilot, and he clicked off.

Drew chuckled to himself as Drakken came near again, smiling in anticipation.

"So, you'll destroy everyone in one fell swoop, heh? I like it. I see my tutelage has borne good fruit then."

"See it as you wish, great uncle. But I suspect that even the 'great' Kim Possible can escape the mass of burning metal I'm about to make out of one of her vaunted Sunhawks. Perhaps her sidekick husband might survive too. But that's exactly how I would have it. I have their fate waiting for them should they survive it."

And he laughed louder as he looked back in the corner at the Yono, whose eyes now shined with a malevolent hunger and glee.

* * *

The girls stood entranced at the hatchway, huddling against their father behind them. Ron's Kimmunicator beeped. Raising his wrist, he tapped on the device.

"What up, Wade?"

"Ron! That funny signal is back again!"

He frowned, "Oh, that thingamajigee we saw before? What's it doing?"

"Well, actually not much. It seems to be hovering about two miles away. But it's going in and out. I can't get a good handle on it. Wait! Okay, there it goes. It's popping up and down around the tree line, and now its moving. It's coming towards you, but real slow, it looks like."

Concern roiled in Ron's gut, "Uh, Wade. Call the other Sunhawks in the immediate area. Have them converge on the farm here. We might need some backup."

"Sure thing, Ron. I'll get right on it... ...uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?", said Ron, "Don't tell me uh-oh, Wade! Every time you tell me uh-oh, it's something bad."

"Sorry, Ron. Three more of those funny signals just popped up."

Ron whined in exasperation, "Okay, Wade, what is it? Are these some sort of ghost reflections or something. They sure didn't look like anything real. And our radar's as good as it gets."

"Yeah, I know, Ron. But I think they are real. We have some really advanced technology going on here."

"How do you know?", asked Ron.

"Those ghost signals. They're all headed in your direction."

* * *

"Shoot her! Concentrate all fire on a leading track!", yelled the leader as he attempted to bring his weapon to bear. As a well trained unit all twelve of the men near him lined their rifles up and fired in an organized pattern at their oncoming attacker. The grid they punched into the air should have allowed nothing to get through. But somehow she twist into a compact lump, roll out, then manage to completely alter her direction like an old pinball banking off its bumpers. She slipped through the barrage effortlessly and spun out into a full spreadeagled shape stopping her roll, pulling her arms and legs in as she rammed her compacted body like a bullet into the massed pack.

The leader gasped in surprise, his mouth wide open as Kim unfurled herself and slammed into him with both feet, knocking him out, then jumped up with a spinning wheel kick that slammed into the temple of the XO next to him, sending him into a crumpled mass in the snow. Yelling, the other men turned their weapons on her and fired. Poised like a cat, she ducked the first firing barrage, jumped straight up avoiding the second, stretched out with twin side kicks to each side and downed the two henchmen she had in range. The other henchmen were not so fortunate as the wayward blasts that missed her took out three of their number. Realizing they were too close to each other, the men threw their plasma rifles away and began to engage Kim hand to hand. As they did, the rest of the henchmen came in from the outlying trees and charged in, trying to bowl her over by sheer numbers.

But it was like trying to catch greased lightning. Again and again, they had her surrounded and trapped, and like an eel she slid away each time. She ducked or jumped up, struck out, taking an opponent out with virtually every strike. One man finally grabbed her from behind with a bear hug as a second tried to punch her out, but she quickly ducked the fist letting it strike the first henchman. Stunned, he let go of Kim who quickly elbowed him backwards as she grabbed the arm of the second man, twisting it fiercely so that he screamed in pain as his shoulder joint snapped, his body suddenly whipped into a somersault that landed him on the ground like a dead weight. She back-kicked the first man and slammed him into a tree directly behind where he slid down into the snow unconscious.

Four more charged her from all directions, and were taken off balance again as she charged one of them instead, surprising him by closing the distance quickly and staggering him in the solar plexus with a side kick, doubling him over. She grabbed him around the neck and spun him around into the other three as they tried to change direction and catch her. This delayed them enough as Kim struck out with a back fist behind her without even looking at the fifth guy who was trying to take her by surprise from the rear with a sneak attack, dropping him like a stone. The first three disentangled themselves as three more joined them and they rushed Kim again. Like a pouncing tiger, she jumped up and soared over their heads, spinning as she flew by them, taking the last one in line out with a flying back kick. She landed and faced the last eight men, a momentary pause in the air.

She held her guard up with knife hands in front of her, smiling ferally, waving them to come on with a slight move of her forward hand. Faces grimaced in anger, they charged her again, yelling.

All in all, the fight took less than four and a half minutes, and yet to the twins it was like an eternity, crammed full of stunningly new information about the capabilities of this woman they had known all their lives as their mother. They had heard the tales of 'Kim Possible'... ...but to actually see it...

Stunned beyond belief, they stood motionless at the hatchway of the Sunhawk watching their mother exhibit the skills for which she was internationally known, and which they had never truly seen until now.

"Oh, my God.", breathed Mim, "She never came that hard at us. I didn't believe what you said at first, Dad."

"That's who your mother is, honey. She's the best.", Ron said in a soft, but proud voice, "And it's one reason why I love her more than anything."

K-J smiled back at him before looking down on the scene, replying, "Yeah, Dad. She is."

She looked at her sister in a knowing way, saying, "Boy, do we have our work cut out for us."

Mim looked back at her, "Ya think? Hickabickaboo?"

"Hoosha!", answered K-J, solemnly.

When the battle was over, Ron signaled to the pilot to land quickly. As they touched down, the twins leaped out and ran for Jill. Ron caught up with Kim.

"You looked good out there, KP.", he said smiling.

Kim was exhilarated, eyes wide in sheer pleasure as she looked around over the grounds, breathing deeply as she made sure nobody was getting back up.

"I had _sooo_ forgotten how good that feels!", she exclaimed, "I have _got_ to get out more often for this!"

"Well, we kind of might get that chance before long if we don't split."

A worried look came over Kim's face.

"What's the sitch?"

Ron told her about the approaching ghost echos, and that he didn't think they were just echos.

"Right!", Kim said, "Let's get these people out of here."

"We got Jill!", shouted the twins as they carried the girl between them towards the copter.

"I'll get the guy, uh, Mr. Daniels, I guess.", said Ron and he quickly picked him up and carried him under his armpits to the Sunhawk.

"Where's that third guy?", yelled Kim, looking around.

"I don't know! I think he ran off in to the woods!", Ron shouted as the Sunhawk engines began to scream in preparation to lift off, "What about the henchmen?"

"Leave them! The other Sunhawks can pick them up! Let's go!", replied Kim as she sprinted for the hatchway.

The girls got on first, handing Jill off to the Medic team. Then they climbed aboard and helped their father roll Larry Daniels' unconscious form onto the Sunhawk's floor. Kim reached the hatchway at the same time and she and Ron vaulted on board as he yelled into his Kimmunicator for the pilot to go. The Sunhawk lurched into the air and headed straight east for home base.

"Hypothermia!", yelled on of the medics he grabbed heat packs out of their stores and began applying it to Jill's body, unzipping her parka open and sticking them under her sweater. Another one massaged her arm vigorously and slapped at it, trying to make the veins pop up, finally tagging one and managing to get an IV started.

"Where's the warmer?", she asked, and the first medic threw the unit to her. She slapped the IV line into the heater and turned it on as soon as she set the IMED pump for the IV.

She covered Jill with a warming blanket, then pulled out a sphygmomanometer and placed it on her arm, pumping it rapidly and listening to her antecubital fossa with a stethoscope.

"Ninety-eight over fifty. Pulse, forty-five."

She took a small hand held unit that looked something like an otoscope and placed the tip in Jill's ear, then pressed a button. Five seconds later it beeped and she pulled it back and read the display.

"Temp's ninety-three five.", she said.

Kim watched in alarm, "Is she going to be okay?"

The first medic had pulled off Jill's boots and gloves, carefully inspecting her digits, then looked up at Kim, "It's close. She's really hypothermic, but there's no frostbite. We can warm her up pretty good here. Her clothes aren't in too bad a shape, but we should probably get the pants off, They're too wet. We got some scrubs to put on her. She should be okay."

Kim closed her eyes in relief, thankful she was not going to have to tell Tara any bad news. Then she looked over at their other passenger.

"What about him?", she asked.

The other two medics on the team had been working on him. He also had been given an IV line with warmed saline flowing, as well as heat packs and a blanket. Similarly, his boots and gloves had been removed.

"Temperature's ninety-six, so his core's better, but...", and he looked at the feet.

Larry's feet had turned ivory white. The medic reached down and tried to squeeze one of his toes. It was frozen solid. There were cracks in the skin which began to ooze blood.

"He's going to lose all of his toes from frostbite. The heels look pretty good though. Since the girl's digits don't have any damage, my guess is he was carrying her a good part of the way from that shack."

Kim grimaced as she nodded. That was not going to be good for Tara's patient, but at least he'll be alive. Satisfied they were being well cared for, she turned to more urgent matters.

"Do what you can for them. I'll alert the base that we're coming home."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

Kim and Ron headed for the cockpit.

"Report.", she said tersely when she got there.

"ETA's fifteen minutes. The ghost flashes have suddenly veered off and look like they're headed for the farm, except for one."

"Which one?"

"The one coming up from behind."

"What? How fast is it coming?"

"Pretty damn fast."

Kim nodded in understanding. She switched on her Kimmunicator.

"Bat-See, this is Red Drake Two Three. This is Red Drake Two Three. Do you read? Over."

The answer came through immediately, "Copy that, Red Drake Two Three. This is Bat-See. What's your ETA and sitch? Over"

"Home in fifteen. We have recovered our targets. Call medical and get them ready to receive incoming. Lieutenant, we were attacked out here. Scramble the rotary wings for full combat and get them out here to reconnoiter. I've left twenty five henchmen unconscious at the farm south of the shack. We need to get them back and processed, so we can evaluate the threat and—"

"Excuse me, CAG? You were attacked?"

"Affirmative, lieutenant!", Kim replied a little irritated at the interruption, "So we need to—"

"And you took them out yourself?", the lieutenant interrupted again.

Kim growled, "Look, lieutenant! the government policy against me getting personally involved in firefights..."

"Oh, no! Commander!, It's not that!", said the lieutenant apologetically, "It's just... ...it's just, well. Booyah for you, ma'am! Way to go!"

Kim heard cheering going on in the background of the Bat-See, and she became embarrassed as she realized they were rooting for her. The lieutenant cleared his throat.

"Uh, anyway. Sorry for the interruption, ma'am. Orders? Over?"

Kim smiled at him, blushing and rolling her eyes, "Yes, thank you, lieutenant. We have to act quick. We may have multiple bogies headed for the farm. Get the rotary wings out there and beat them to it. One bogie is chasing us, but we'll deal with it. Over."

"Commander, we're not seeing a thing on the scopes. Are you sure there's enemy aircraft out there? Over. Also we only have about eight of those rotary wings fitted for these conditions."

"Positive on the enemy aircraft, lieutenant!", Kim replied, fully serious now, "ComIntel will tell you how to find it, not that it will be easy! Send whatever you have available and ready! Get those birds flying!"

"Aye, aye, Commander! Bat-See out.", acknowledged the lieutenant, who then clicked off.

Kim hit another button and waited a second more, then saw Wade pop on.

"Talk to me, Wade!"

"It's coming at you fast, Kim. I've never seen a bird like this! It moves faster than anything out there that can hover!"

"What is it?", she asked.

"I can't tell you!" Wade said, in exasperation, "They've got a stealth system that's beyond anything I've ever seen! It's really advanced! This is so cool!"

"Not now, Wade! How soon will it take for them to catch up?"

"Uh, like right now?"

Kim blinked and growled, "Great! Just great!"

She looked back at the hatchway and strained to hear through the noise and could now easily pick up the second set of jet engines and the rotors, definitely a rotary wing craft.

She shot towards the back to where Ron and the girls were still located, yelling back at the pilot.

"Call May Day! May Day!", she cried.

"Aye aye, Commander."

The pilot flipped a switch and began to talk when gunfire ripped through the canopy. Sparks flew from damaged electronics as the pilot threw up his hands to shield himself from them. As soon as it was over, he looked around. Nobody was hurt. But when he tried to call again, he found the communications panel was out.

By this time, Kim had gotten back to the hatchway and both she and Ron stared into the wind, still blowing hard. Visibility was about a mile as the snow had finally let up considerably. The bogie was directly behind and to the left of them, still hidden in the clouds. In one flashing swoop, it emerged from cover.

"Oh, my gosh.", said Kim, her face paling.

It was the largest attack helicopter gunship she had ever seen, dwarfing the Apache attack ship it was obviously patterned after. It was black and angular, obviously using stealth materials. Her weapons pods were awe inspiring, as was her stacked rotor design. The pilot's canopy was well wider than an Apache, of course, and comfortably seated two, and Kim and Ron could see they wore the same red suited uniform as the henchmen she had taken out at the farm. Kim tapped on her Kimmunicator, trying to get Wade to see this, but all she could get was static. She realized she was being jammed.

She looked back out at the black aircraft, and said, "These guys are good!"

The pilot yelled back, "Weapons lock! They have weapons lock! Maneuvering!"

"Can you bring our guns to bear?", she yelled.

"Negative!", yelled the pilot, "I can't shake her! She's too quick! I can't fire the mini-gun at that severe an angle!"

The Sunhawk screamed away in a sharp right turn, closely followed by their pursuer.

"Can you outrun them?", Kim yelled.

"I don't think so, Commander!", came the reply as the Sunhawk lurched again, trying to go left and down.

The girls had come up to the hatchway and were looking out, their eyes wide in concern. Kim looked at Ron suddenly in fear.

"I've got to get the girls off!", she yelled, "Help the others do the same!"

Kim scrambled for the seats and started to retrieve parachutes, screaming at the medics to prepare their charges in the same way, yelling for the girls to come back and get into theirs, but all they did was stand there at the hatchway entranced, hanging on to the webbing for support. The medics went into action getting their parachutes on and rigging some form of carrying harness for their patients.

"Ron!", yelled Kim, "Come on!"

"Weapons lock! They're going to fire!", yelled the pilot

Ron didn't move. He wasn't sure why but, he stood there with the girls, watching the red suited pilot of the enemy craft. Despite the Sunhawk's wild weaving through the air, the gunship easily kept up with them. Its pilot watched them calmly, easily changing direction every time his prey did. There was a smirk on his face as he spoke into his headset for a moment, nodding at times. He flicked up a cover on his joystick, uncovering a red button. He smiled as he covered it with his thumb.

"Ron!"

But Ron knew it was too late as a blue skinned man stepped into view just behind the pilot.

* * *

"Sir. We have weapons lock."

Drew smiled.

"Good.", he said, "I'll be up front shortly. I want to see this personally."

"As would I.', trilled Drakken, rubbing his hands together, "Albeit, I do not completely concede to your explanation as to how you did it, I must admit you called it correctly. Your agent did indeed get the girl into the trap as you said."

"Yes, Great Uncle, as if she were being driven to slaughter.", Drew replied, musing the events over, "A shame really, that our agent was disposed up so easily. And I was a little disturbed that the man was able to put up such a fight at the end. But that was no more than expected."

Drew stared at the monitor with a great satisfaction taking over his countenance.

"And now the trap is sprung. Kim Possible's fate is sealed."

Drew looked at the monitor with him, watching the struggling Sunhawk trying to shake the Skywolf.

"They should be jumping out anytime soon."

"Yes, they have to try and save their victims.", replied Drew, "They won't abandon them. They won't have the time to do it, of course. But just in case, we do have the Yono."

"Yesssss.", cackled Drakken, sounding like a gleeful child.

They stepped up towards the canopy, Drew leading the way. He emerged behind the pilot and looked out. He saw the Sunhawk frantically trying to jig and jag. The pilot chuckled.

"They can't get away, sir."

Drew smiled more broadly, "I know."

The Sunhawk lurched again, then seemed to straighten out. Drew saw the open hatchway become visible again, and there was a man there staring out at them. It was Ron Stoppable. Their eyes locked together for one brief moment.

Drew Lipsky's smile became a menacing grin as he put a hand on the pilot's shoulder and calmly spoke his next command.

"Fire."

* * *

**Will the Sunhawk be destroyed? Will Drakken finally realize his dream of destroying Kim once and for all? Will Kim and Ron be able to save everyone in the Sunhawk, only to face the power of the Yono? We know the answer, but the question is why... ...The answer will come in a few days, I hope. Many thanks to Cajunbear, Spectre666, Rollred2000, and the rest of my reviewers. I look forward to the inspiration that you provide me.**


	9. Revelations and Sacrifice

**And so we come to the climactic chapter. I have borrowed a little bit more from season four here in a couple of details. You'll know them when you see them. There's a major surprise in this chapter, the crux of the entire story in fact. For those of you who have already guessed it, I probably foreshadowed it too much. But maybe I'll still surprise a few of you. After this chapter comes the chapters that show the reason for the story's title, and its Christmas theme. But let's get through this one first. :)**

**Revelations and Sacrifice**

The Sunhawk's engines screamed at maximum thrust as it tried to shake the larger attack craft, doggedly trying to outfly it, yet like a shark homing in on its prey, the angular black machine zoomed in closer and closer. Ron could only watch in horror as he watched the blue skinned man, or boy? Yes, he did look quite young. But his eyes were old. That young man smiled malevolently at him as he spoke one word. The pilot smiled wider as he pressed the button on his joy stick, and two of the pods, one on each side, spat fire out a tube. The missiles were coming.

"Ron!", Kim screamed, rushing up to him with parachutes in her hands, "Take one!"

He did so, still staring at the attacking helicopter. Kim kept going, handing a parachute to each of the girls. Looking back at the medic team, she made sure they were all ready to go. Two of them had a patient strapped to their front harnesses. The pilots had already been instructed to abandon the Sunhawk once everyone in the back got out.

"Ron!", Kim cried again:"We have to jump! We'll put the chutes on as we dive down!"

As she said this, the girls gathered to either side of their father, holding their parachutes but just staring at their attacker.

Kim looked around wide-eyed, "What is wrong? We have to go! NOW!"

"No.", replied Ron, "No, wait just a few seconds."

Kim stared gape-jawed at him, then looked out at the black helicopter closing in on them, the two missiles rapidly filling the view as they closed on the Sunhawk.

* * *

The steady musical note in the canopy of the Skywolf went up a tritone and warbled as the missiles lurched from the helicopter.

"Missiles away.", said the pilot confidently.

"Time to impact?"

"Twenty seconds."

"Good.", Drew said, still smiling, "I can see Stoppable's face registering his own doom about to take him. I would like to see her face too.

"Oh, there she is, now.", he continued, smiling even wider and laughing.

"And look!", he said sarcastically, "Isn't she just as shocked as he is."

He laughed again, but then quieted, still staring at the Sunhawk.

"Wait.", he said questioningly, "Who's that? There's two of them? No, three?"

Drew's eyes bugged out as he gasped, and he screamed, "_Disable the missiles! Abort the shot! Abort the shot!"_

The pilot wheeled around in surprise, "What? Sir? What's going on?"

Rage twisting his face, Drew turned on the pilot and backhanded him clear off of his chair.

"_I said, abort the missiles_!", he yelled. He turned back to the control panel and slammed down on the auto-destruct control button.

"What?", cried Drakken behind him trying to squeeze into the canopy, "What are you doing, Drew? _What are you doing_?"

Drew turned and slammed his great uncle in the chest with a palm strike, driving him backwards into the corridor behind the canopy, then turned and looked angrily back at the Sunhawk's hatchway, seeing the Stoppable family's surprised reaction as the missiles blew up two seconds away from hitting the doomed VTOL aircraft.

"_How did he know?_", Drew ranted to no one in particular, "How? They've never taken the girls on a mission before! Everything pointed to the fact they wouldn't do it! How did he know to bring them this time?"

The two craft stopped maneuvering and flew straight on for a few moments, the Skywolf behind and to the left. Those moments lasted a lifetime, Drew and the Stoppables staring at each other, the memory burned into each other's minds. Drew turned to the pilot struggling on the floor to get up.

His face merciless, he spat at him , "The next time I give an order, you will obey it _immediately_! Understand?"

Cringing on the floor, the pilot stared up at him and stuttered, Yes! Yes, sir!"

"Now, get up!", Drew yelled, "Take us back to base! Com the remaining Skywolves to pick up our men at the farm! Move!"

Drew didn't even bother to look back as he walked away, the pilot scrambling back into his seat and immediately grabbing the joystick, taking over from the co-pilot. He yanked it to the left, veering the huge helicopter back into the cloud cover. Drew strode right past his great uncle still lying on the corridor floor. Drakken stared at him in confusion, then hurriedly got back up and followed him.

"What was that all about?", he screamed at him, "This whole mission was to destroy Kim Possible once and for all! Why did you stop just as you were about to succeed?"

"Because, great uncle!", answered Drew loudly as he reentered his cabin, "She wasn't alone!"

"What do you mean she wasn't alone?", cried Drakken, confused, "Why should that make any difference? How does that..."

Drew stopped listening as Drakken continued to rave on for the 'nth' time about how much time he had spent preparing him for this moment, getting him ready for the victory that was just snatched away from him yet again. He had to think. Obviously, his efforts to inhibit Stoppable's reading of the Time Stream were still insufficient. He must have read a future thread where this occurred and realized what would keep him from destroying the Sunhawk. Now he must redouble his efforts, and make sure the supposed Monkey Master cannot reliably read the Time Stream any more. His great uncle was still screaming and pacing the cabin as he looked around and found the Yono standing quietly in his corner, gazing at him, that slight smile still lurking on his lips, and he remembered the Yono's promise...

"_I will have the Dragon's blood. Either hers... ...or yours._"

* * *

The sky behind them was empty. Kim had waited as long as she could before she made her way to jump, making sure the medics and their charges were right behind her, when the missiles exploded harmlessly two hundred feet behind the Sunhawk. Stunned, she froze in place, wondering what had happened. Ron had not moved. Before it disappeared, they all looked back at the attack helicopter's canopy. The blue skinned man/teenager had a look of pure fury on his face. The pilot had somehow disappeared from view but appeared to be on the floor as Drakken's grandnephew looked down and shouted, then turned and did something behind him. He looked back at the Sunhawk, glaring sheer hatred before he turned on his heel and stormed out of the canopy. The pilot quickly appeared again, scrambling back into his seat, and he yanked hard on the joystick. The huge black beast yawed away from the Sunhawk and disappeared into the clouds.

Kim blinked her eyes in disbelief. Ron remained immobile, a twin on either side of him. Kim was behind him, and all of them stared out at the vacant sky. He turned and faced her.

"Okay.", she said cautiously, "What just happened?"

Ron scratched his head, and smiled lopsidedly at her, "I guess he, uh, changed his mind?"

"Ya think?", she deadpanned, "Care to figure that one out, oh monkey master?"

"Let me get back to you on that one, okay, KP?"

"Riiiiight.", she answered, shook her head briskly, getting cobwebs out, then said to no one in particular, "Well, I'm not looking a gift horse in the... ...whatever."

She tapped on her Kimmunicator twice, but it didn't repond immediately. Wade's image was fuzzy and distorted at first, and it took about half a minute to finally appear.

"Whew! Kim!", he said finally, "That was one major frequency interference attack!"

"How did he do it, Wade?", she asked, "I haven't seen you jammed like that in years! You're the best at this stuff!"

"Yeah, well it looks like I've got some major competition all of a sudden.", he said in irritation, but added with a confident look, "Don't worry. The next time they try it, I'll be ready for them."

Kim smiled, "I know you will. Where are they now?"

Wade scanned his screens, "Still hard to tell. I have to go by those funny little disturbances because their stealth is so good, but I think they're headed southwest at their best speed, and damn! They're fast! The regular military's not going to pick them up! That's for sure."

"What about those other blips that were mentioned?"

"I think they're headed for the farm, probably to pick up those guys you trashed."

"Will our birds intercept them?"

Wade shook his head, "Not in time. They'll likely be gone at least two minutes before our Sunhawks get there."

"I don't want them engaging, Wade."

"Agreed, Kim. I'll call our birds back to base. Those guys are too dangerous and we don't know enough about them. But Dragonrider should give me plenty of footage from the rear camera to giving me some specs.."

"We can't transmit, though.", said Kim, "They shot up the com panel."

"I know", replied Wade, "That's okay. Dump it into the Kimmunicator. It'll take too long to transmit from the wrist unit, so just hold on to it until you get in. I'll look at it then."

"Gotcha, Wade. See ya.", Kim said and then signed off.

Switching on the intercom system in the Sunhawk, she hailed the pilot.

"Lieutenant? You read me?"

"Loud and clear, Commander.", he answered, "That lead shower only got the long distance com circuits, looks like."

"Good. It seems like we're clear of bogies. Let's head home."

"Aye aye, Commander. ETA in fourteen.", and he clicked off.

Kim turned back to the medics. They had already returned their charges to their gurneys and were putting their treatment packs and IV's into place again. Jill started to moan and was shivering violently. Concerned, Kim came to her.

"Sergeant?", she asked.

The medic smiled, "It's okay, Commander. It's a good sign. Her body's waking up more. The shivering is the body's way of generating heat, you know."

Kim nodded and looked into Jill's face. Her lips were cracked and there were bruises around her eyes where she had fallen into the snow. Her eyes were bloodshot as well. But she was opening them, waking up. Kim sat down on the edge of the gurney, staring intensely at her and holding on to her arms as Jill feebly waved them around. She started moving her head, trying to see better, then opened her eyes more and focused on Kim's face.

"Aun... ...Aunt... ...Kim?", she croaked almost inaudibly.

Kim smiled broadly at her, "Yes, Jill, it's me. You're safe now. You're on the Sunhawk. We have you. Everything's going to be okay. The medics say that there's no permanent injury."

"Mom?... ...Is she...?"

"She's back at the base, honey. I'll be letting her know here in just a minute that we have you safe and sound."

Jill swallowed hard, then licked her lips a little, "Water..."

Kim looked over to the medic and he swiftly brought out a canteen which she unstoppered. Jill's shivering clamed down some as she struggled to raise her head. Kim reached down and held her up enough to let her sip from the canteen. When she had enough, she nodded and Kim gently laid her back down on the gurney.

"Where's... ...Larry?"

"You mean the man we found with you? He's here, too. He's safe."

"Good, good.", whispered Jill, "Larry Daniels... ...He saved my life."

Kim glanced quickly over at the huge man, still unconscious on his gurney next to them. The medics were monitoring him closely.

"Is he okay, Aunt Kim?", Jill asked.

Kim grimaced slightly as she said, "He'll live, Jill, but he's got some frostbite injury."

Jill's face wrenched mildly with pain.

"It's not right.", she moaned softly, "He's been through too much. His daughter is sick."

"I know, Jill. That's why we came out here, not only to look for you, but also to look for him. His wife told us where we could find him. It was pure luck you happened to be there too."

"So. His wife did go to Mom for help?"

"That's right, Jill."

"But how bad? How bad is he?"

"I'm confident the medical staff can take care of it. You don't need to be worrying about that right now. He'll be fine. You need to just rest. Let the medics do their job."

Two more figures appeared on either side of Kim, smiling broadly at Jill.

"Hey, there!", said K-J teasingly, "What's a junior cheerleader doing out in a storm like this?"

"Yeah", said Mim, smiling, "You weren't trying to scout some opposition cheer team up here or something, were ya?"

Jill managed a small grin and replied, "No. Just needed to get away from pesky freshmen like you..."

The twins laughed, "Sounds like you're jellin'."

"So not.", croaked Jill, but she had a genuine smile on her face.

"That's enough, you two.", said Kim, mildly scolding them, "She needs to rest. Besides, when you guys become junior cheerleaders, you'll soon learn to have to watch your own backs against freshmen competing for your places."

"You mean the way you took the head cheerleading position from that Bonnie Rockwaller girl?", Mim said with a mischievous grin.

Kim gasped lightly and looked mildly appalled, "Miriam Ann Stoppable! Where did you hear that?"

Mim looked back at her nonchalantly and shrugged, "Where else?"

Kim frowned, "I _so_ have to talk to your father about keeping secrets!"

"Ya think?", the twins deadpanned.

Kim snorted and rolled her eyes, then said, "Whatever! Go along now, and strap yourselves back in."

Each of the twins hugged Jill, wishing her their best, then left to reclaim their seats.

Kim looked back at Jill, "They're just joking, you know."

"Yeah, I know.", Jill replied softly, "The only problem is that like you, they really are good enough to pull it off. I've heard the stories, too"

Kim smiled again. It brought back memories. She hadn't thought about Bonnie Rockwaller in years, except the one time when she received the Medal of Freedom award. She had to get a dress, and as it turned out the best place to get one was in Paris at 'B's. Of course, Bonnie had long settled in France for some time now, surprisingly having achieved her dream of becoming the head editor of Vogue magazine's Paris division after a fairly successful career in ballet. She had found her soul mate in Señor Senior Junior (and she wasn't even a blue fox. Imagine that!). They had three children, all daughters. From what Kim had heard, 'B', as she was always called, was hell on wheels at the job. 'Figures', thought Kim, but then she remembered Jill's comment about the girls.

"They won't do that."

"I know.", Jill said, smiling, but became serious again, "But what about Mom? Is she okay? I really screwed up this time."

Kim shushed her, "It's fine, Jill. Really. Yes, your mother is worried sick, as is your father, but they've held up really well."

"She's going to kill me, isn't she?"

Kim chuckled, "Honey, she'll be glad just to get you back home safe and unharmed. Don't worry about it!"

Jill looked at her tensely for a moment, but then relaxed a little and nodded, "Do you know anything about Larry's daughter?"

Kim shook her head, "Not much. Only that she's very sick."

"Is she still alive?"

"I think so, honey. Last I heard, anyway. Your mother's on the case."

"Yeah.", said Jill, "She would be..."

Kim's eyebrows furrowed in concern, "What do you mean?"

Jill did a double take before answering, "Oh, nothing. It's just that it's her work. She loves doing it."

Kim stared at her a moment before saying, "Maybe a little too much, you think?"

Looking sheepish, Jill replied, "Well I... ...I wish..."

"You wish she spent more time with you."

She looked guilty now, getting teary eyed.

"I don't want to take her away from it, either her or Dad, really. I know they really love doing it. It's just I know they have to do their jobs. I just wish it didn't take so much of their time."

Kim looked at her solemnly, then carefully gathered her up into her arms and hugged her.

"Jill.", she said, "Ron and I have fought that same battle for time with our own children. We are fortunate that our schedules are not as brutal as your parents, so it hasn't been as much of a problem with us. But you know your parents are doing the best they can."

"I know. I know. I really do.", the girl murmured.

A noise erupted from further back in the cabin. Kim gently let go of Jill and stood up, looking at the medics with Larry Daniels. He had awakened, yelling and struggling to get out of the gurney, the medics fighting to keep him down. She quickly ran over to him as he yelled at the medics to let go. Jill, a worried look on her face, levered herself up on one elbow and watched.

"_Get! O__ff! M__e_!", Larry roared, as the medics had to lay on top of him to keep him down. He was squirming furiously to dislodge them.

"What have you done with Jill?", he shouted as Kim came up got into his face.

"Mr. Daniels!", she yelled, "Mr. Daniels! Stop fighting! Jill is safe! She's safe!"

"Like hell, she is!", he spat back at her, "You mercs aren't here to save..."

He stopped struggling, confused.

"to... ...to save her—"

He stared at Kim, then looked around at the medics, seeing they weren't dressed like the red suited henchmen. He looked over and saw Jill laying on a gurney close by, looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Jill!", he cried, "Jill! Are you okay?"

The girl managed a wan smile, but nodded to him. With that, He relaxed and fell back limply into his gurney. The struggle over, the medics let go of him with sighs of relief. Kim watched him closely. His full beard was still crusted with ice, as were his eyebrows and much of his hair, though the warm air of the cabin was beginning to melt it. His face was swollen from too much exposure, distorting his features, and he was bruised around his eyes. The knot on the back of his head didn't help either.

Looking at Kim, he asked, "We're... ...safe? Wha... ...what happened? Last thing I remember..."

"Mr. Daniels.", Kim said evenly, "Do you know who I am?"

It took him a few moments to focus on her, but when he did, his eyes flew open.

"Kim? You're Kim?... ...Possible?... ...Is it really you? You found us?"

Kim nodded to him as she smiled, "You don't have to worry anymore. We took out those 'mercs' before they could get you away. Both you and Jill are now on a Team Possible V-26 Sunhawk, and we're headed back to our base."

He looked over at Jill again, briefly, then back to Kim, "Jill's okay?"

"She's fine.", Kim replied smiling even broader, "and you'll be seeing your wife too, as soon as we get back to base."

"What?"

The mention of his wife and daughter made his eyes go wide open in fear. He struggled again with renewed energy to get up out of bed. Kim reacted and held down his arms.

"Wait a minute! It's alright! It's going to be alright. Stay calm!"

Fear invaded his eyes for a moment as he looked deeply at Kim, "Sam? Melissa?"

"Your daughter's still with us. I can't tell you how well she's doing, but Dr. Monroe is doing everything she can. I promise you that."

Larry blinked a couple of times as the news settled in, then sighed deeply, collapsing back into the gurney again.

Softly, he said, "Thank you, Kim, uh, Ms. Possible. Thank you..."

Kim chuckled.

"Kim is fine, if I can call you Larry."

He smirked slightly under the beard.

"Sure.", he croaked out, "That would be just fine."

The medic nearest him said, 'Sir, we're going to need to shave your beard. You've got some frostbite on the skin there.

Larry looked at him in consternation, but appeared resigned to it.

"Okay, but can we do it a little later? Not right now?"

"Sure thing. Once we get you to a room in the hospital."

He nodded and said, "Thanks."

* * *

"Clear!"

The third shock went off and Melissa's body arched again. They watched the monitor, seeing the heart was trying to come back to a regular rhythm, but still there was only a rough V-tach, then it suddenly kicked back in to sinus tachycardia, a fast version of the normal state.

"Where's our screening lab!", yelled Tara, "Pulse?"

"Not yet."

"Continue CPR! Lab?""

"Coming right up!", answered one of the nurses. The bedside medical scanner came alive and flashed all sorts of data across its screen. Initial results started to display. The beauty of the medical scanner was that it was able to deliver real time lab values through a very thin sensor line going into the superior vena cava through the central venous IV line that was placed in Melissa's jugular vein in her neck. Although this was a far better solution and quicker than the old method of drawing blood and getting i-stat values which were less accurate, it still took two to four minutes to get it going. The methodology by which it was done also made it impractical to use all the time, although that was still being worked on. As a result it usually was only done for codes at the present time...

"Lytes are up!"

Tara stared at the screen for a second, then saw it.

"Bicarb's down! Half an amp, directly into the portacath! It's closest to the heart."

The respiratory tech rummaged through the supplies and whipped the box out of the crash cart.

"Doctor! See the..."

"Yes, I see it! Get five milliequivalents of kay-cee-ell ready, also by portacath! Resolving the acidosis will trigger it again."

"But the bicarb?", asked one nurse.

"It's all in the timing!", replied Tara, "Okay... ...Bicarb! Now!"

Sticking the large syringe ampule's needle into the portacath in Melissa's right chest area, she pushed heavily on the plunger until it was only half full. Tara and the others looked up and watched the board. In seconds, the display began to change. The bicarbonate level rose up to fifteen, seventeen, twenty, and the potassium dropped to two point eight, two point six...

"Doctor! The potassium!"

"I see it!"

The monitor went into V-tach again and the machine beeped rancorously with it as before.

"Give the kay-cee-ell, now! Slowly! Charge the machine up!"

The nurse changed syringe ampules and administered the potassium chloride through the portacath as the defibrillator charged up again. When it was ready...

"Clear!"

One more time, Melissa's body spasmed from the electric shock. They watched the monitor for the results once more. Slowly, the heart came back to life, a beat coming slowly, then another, then another, then rapidly going back in to a fast rhythm, but regular. The potassium was up to three point six.

"Pulse?"

"Got it!" cried the nurse excitedly.

"I want bicarb and potassium drips.", said Tara, "Start with one amp and five milliequivalents an hour respectively. Use the standard protocols for your orders. Keep the emergency scanner operations going for twenty-four hours..."

"They won't last..."

We'll replace them as needed!", Tara replied.

She continued to watch the monitor. The heart rate went up to one sixty, then steadied. A PVC burst through here and there, but it stayed.

"BP's one ten over sixty, Doctor."

"Good.", she replied, "Good. Keep the neo-synephrine handy, just in case." Titrate the drips to maintain her bicarb and potassium in normal ranges."

"Will do, Doctor.", replied the charge nurse as the rest of the crew began getting Melissa cleaned up."

"Urine output?"

"Still good, Doctor. It's been averaging seventy an hour."

"Thank God for small favors.", Tara muttered to herself, then said to the nurse, "Hopefully, it'll stay that way. Keep the diuretics going IV push for now."

She watched for a few moments more, making sure everything was stable before going back out of the room and looking around, finding Sam tensely sitting in a chair hunched over and praying, her head hung down to her knees. As she heard Tara's footsteps, she looked up pale as a ghost, fear in her eyes deeper than Tara has ever seen before. She said nothing but just stood up and stared hard into Tara's eyes.

Tara sighed, but smiled as she said, "She's okay. We still have her."

Sam's face transfigured completely from the relief that washed over her, and she launched herself at Tara and hugged her for dear life, sobbing into her shoulder. Tara stood there and hugged her back, and wishing she was the one being hugged instead, wishing she had just found out her daughter had been saved.

After Sam had cried herself out, she pulled back and smiled through the tears at Tara, too shaken to say anything. Tara glanced back momentarily at Melissa's room, then looked at Sam.

"You can go back in, now.", she said softly, "She'll need you."

Sam slowly nodded, mouthing a silent 'thank you', as she walked slowly towards her daughter's room. But she was stopped suddenly when a man in military uniform rushed by, heading straight for Tara.

"Dr. Monroe?", he asked.

Tara frowned, confused, "Yes?"

"You better come with me, Ma'am.", he said excitedly, "The Commander wants to speak with you in the Bat-See."

Tara gasped.

"Kim found her! Is she okay?", she yelled, wide-eyed.

The officer nodded enthusiastically, "That's the scuttlebutt, ma'am. Come this way."

He ran back the way he came, closely followed by Tara, Sam staring after her in surprise. She turned to the charge nurse as she was wheeling the crash cart out of Melissa's room, the question on her face. The nurse looked at her, and then looked at Tara running down the hall for a moment before facing Sam again.

"She didn't want you to know.", she said, "But I guess it's all right now."

* * *

"Yes, Tara. She's safe. The medics have checked her out completely, and there's no serious injury."

Kim was off to one side trying to keep the droning of the Sunhawk engines out of her ears as Ron watched her, but he couldn't hear Tara's response. He was busy finishing a check on the girls' straps before they started landing procedures. ETA was about eight minutes.

"No! No! You go ahead. Get hold of Kevin and we'll have her in a room for you to see as soon as you both get there."

She listened to the response for a moment more, then chuckled, " Yes, you can change if you want. You have time. We'll be there before you know it... ...Good... ...Okay, just give me the lieutenant again."

She waited a moment longer, "That's fine lieutenant, Red Drake Two Three out."

She clicked the Kimmunicator off and came back to Ron and the girls. As she sat down, she laid back languorously and sighed a long deep breath.

"Well, that's one more success story for Team Possible.", she said, looking over at Ron.

He chuckled and replied, "And my main squeeze pulled it off again!"

She laughed, "Maybe, loverboy. But not without your mad monkey sight skills, that's for sure."

"Hey, the monkey master came to play!", he said.

He was silent for a moment as he reflected and his face became serious, "But you know, we have a new problem, now."

"Yeah", Kim replied in a miserable tone, "Ol' blue boy is back."

"You mean 'young' blue boy."

Kim gazed at him with concern, then looked off in the distance, thinking.

"Him too."

* * *

Trembling to get her keycard into the slot, Tara was barely able to get the door open, but she finally managed it and rushed in. Grabbing her com, she quickly dialed the number to Middleton Medical Center. Kevin had gotten called in there on an emergency surgery.

"Operator."

"Operator, this is Dr. Monroe. Give me O-R, please."

"Yes ma'am, thank you."

The phone line clicked and she waited anxiously for moments that seemed like hours. Finally there was an answer.

"O-R.", said the voice.

Recognizing the O-R scheduling nurse's voice, Tara said, "Doris? It's me, Dr. Monroe! Is my husband in surgery?'

"Yes, Doctor. He's in room four in the middle of a triple bypass."

"Can you pipe me in on the intercom?"

"Uh, he usually doesn't like to be disturbed, you know, in the middle of surgery, ma'am."

"Yes, I know, Doris. Believe me! He will want this call! Please."

"Okay, Doctor, I'll pipe you through."

There were a few more clicks and a hollow sounding voice came through the speaker phone at the other end.

"Room four."

"This is Dr. Monroe!", Tara said rapidly, "Is my husband there?"

"Yes he is, ma'am. Just a second."

There were some shuffling noises.

"Yes, Tara? I'm here."

"They found her!", she screamed into the receiver, "They found her! She's alive! She's okay! She'll be here in just a few minutes."

She heard Kevin gasp on the other side, then,

"Oh! Thank God! I'll be there as soon as I can! But I'm in the middle of this! I have to finish!"

"Can't you get anyone to take over?"

"Not for this part! But I can get Dr. Gallard to close! I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Hurry!"

"I will! I'll be there soon!", and the intercom quickly clicked off.

Tara clicked the com off and flew into her closet, ripping her bathrobe off and changing out of her nightgown. She pulled out some slacks and a blouse and came back out, looking quickly at the dresser mirror as she did. She frowned at herself, seeing she looked like hell.

"Damn it!', she muttered, "I'm not letting her see me this way!"

She went into the bathroom, quickly shedding the rest of her clothes and climbing into the shower.

* * *

"Talk to me, Wade."

Kim was striding away down the tarmac from the Sunhawk as the TPMC medical teams took over the patients and whisked them off to the medical center. Ron and the girls kept pace beside her.

"Well, it's clear that Drakken's grandnephew is named Drew Lipsky the third. I managed to track down the birth certificate."

"How original.", Kim replied drollfully, "His parents?"

"It appears Drakken had a nephew alright. Don't know if it was from a sister or brother of his. Funny thing. No idea who the mother is. That was somehow left blank."

"Huh?", said Ron, "That does _not_ make sense."

"Tell me about it.", replied Wade, "Every inquiry into every state and federal record about this kid turns up zip, nada on that question. One thing for sure. He never intended for you to find out anything about him at all. This was an assassination strike. Word."

"Understood.", she replied, "Okay, so we're one up on him in that department. We'll be ready for him next time, I hope, just as soon as you analyze the camera footage."

"It means he won't take you by surprise again, Kim. But he does have the superior firepower for the moment."

Kim's mouth hardened into a thin line, "As if that really matters. If it's a fight he wants, he's going to get it. Okay, I'll get back to my office as soon as I can, and I'll download the footage from the camera there. I just have to meet Tara at the medical center with Jill."

"Right.", Wade, replied, "Talk to you then. I'm out."

They walked down the long corridor and caught up with the medics and their patients. With Jill and Larry in tow on their gurneys, they entered the hospital section and took the elevators up to Ward Two. As soon as the doors opened, they disembarked, one team taking Larry Daniels off to a different room as Kim and Ron stayed with Jill. They soon reached her room and the medics took her in as the Stoppables waited outside. The ward nurse soon follwed the medics. It wasn't long before Tara arrived, looking a lot better than she had in days. She flew into Kim's arms and hugged her for dear life, squealing her relief.

As she let go and kissed her cheek, she asked, "She's okay? Right?"

Kim nodded as she smiled widely, "She's inside, a little banged up and bruised, but no permanent injury. She'll be fine."

Tara's face beamed with joy as she hugged Kim again, saying 'thank you' over and over again.

"Let's go in.", Kim said softly, and together, the Stoppables and Tara went through the door.

As soon as she caught sight of her mother, Jill gasped and sat up in bed reaching out for her, Tara rushing to hold her in her arms. Both Kim and Ron couldn't help seeing the reunion without tearing up, and they gathered the girls in and hugged them too as they watched.

The Kimmunicator beeped. Irritated, Kim pulled it out.

"Bad time, Wade! What is it?", she whispered.

"Sorry, Kim. Didn't mean to intrude. But there's something I think you should know about this guy who saved Jill's life.

Kim frowned at him, growling, "Is this an emergency or something?"

"No big. He's not going anywhere and he's not a threat now."

Kim looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean 'He's not a threat, now'?"

"Kim, There's more about Larry Daniels that you need to know. This guy may have had ulterior motives where Jill was concerned."

* * *

Tara held on to her daughter as if for dear life, her sobs pouring out over her as she enveloped her in her arms in a tight, all enveloping cocoon in which she always would be protected. Jill cried even more in relief, steadily clutching to her mother, the tears running profusely into her blouse as she buried her face into Tara's shoulder. They held each other that way without moving for long minutes until they were both sure it really was true they held each other.

Finally, Jill pulled back, the mixture of pain and relief in her eyes as she blurted out," I'm so sorry, Mom! I'm so sorry! I... ...I didn't mean!..."

Tara gathered back into her arms and shushed her as Jill starting crying again, her own tears glistening as they dripped down her cheeks.

"It's okay, honey. It's okay.", she said softly, "Everything's fine now. You're safe. You're home. We've gotten past this. Everything's going to be just fine."

Jill's crying slowly subsided into soft sobbing as her mother's body managed to relax for the first time in almost four days, finally able to shake off the tension and stress. A blissful look of relief filled her face, and Kim smiled, her eyes still moist as she watched.

Ron came up beside her and the girls and said in a low voice, "Come on. Let's let them have some time to themselves, plus we have to check this new info out."

Kim turned to him and gently nodded. Then gathered the twins and quietly left the room, closing the door behind them. Outside the room, Kim turned all business again as she headed for the BATCC.

"Get the girls back to their rooms and washed up, okay?", she said to Ron, "Shego'll be here soon, I want everyone clean and presentable when she does."

"Gotcha, KP.", Ron replied, "I'll make sure the boys are ready too."

"Good. I'm going to check out our Mr. Daniels here and find out what the deal is with him, then I'll meet you back at the office so we can go over the footage."

"Right.", said Ron, and he and the girls split off towards their quarters.

Kim kept going towards BATCC, trying to figure out why Wade was so ominous about Larry Daniels. After all, the guy just about died to save Jill, but he wanted to wait until she went back to BATCC before telling her for some reason. She growled in irritation as she walked quickly, bothered that she still hadn't tied up all the loose ends on this mission.

* * *

Tara held Jill tightly until she cried herself out. She let go and kissed her tenderly, gently brushing her hair off of her face, using it to dry Jill's cheeks. Then she let her slowly lean back onto the pillows of the hospital bed. Sitting down on the side of the bed, she took hold of her hands and gazed into Jill's eyes. Kevin's eyes, she thought. She regarded again how the rest of her daughter came from her. The same blond hair, though a little straighter like Jess', the same face, the same figure, but she definitely had her father's eyes.

"Is Dad here?", she asked through the tears.

"He's on his way.", she said, "He's was in surgery when the call came through they had found you. He had to see if he could get Dr. Gallard to take over so he could come over. But what about you? Are you okay? Are you in pain?"

Drying her face more, Jill swallowed hard and replied, 'No, not really, Mom. God, I'm really sore though. Every bone in my body aches from the cold, but I'm not injured. I've got Larry, Mr. Daniels, to thank for that."

"Yes.", Tara said with a bigger smile, "So I've heard. What happened? I've heard bits and pieces."

Jill's face became tense and she grimaced, "I went to Bueno Nacho to talk to... ...to talk to Jeff. Mom..."

Tara shook her head and gently cut her off, "It's all right, Jill. I know about that. Your father and I talked to him there shortly after you had left him. I know what happened."

The look of anguish came over Jill's face again for a moment, "You were right, Mom."

Tara shushed her again, "It's okay, honey. We'll talk more about that later. I want to know how you ended up out in the middle of nowhere, and why."

Jill looked off into space for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then looked down into her lap as she fidgeted with her fingers and rubbed her hands to warm them up. They had gone cold again with her anxiety.

"I was so, God, so slammed, Mom. I thought I really, really cared for him."

"I was sure it was something like that."

"I just couldn't. I couldn't. I was numb, kind of disembodied. I couldn't just keep going as if nothing had happened. I couldn't talk. Not to you. Not to anybody."

Jill swallowed hard once more, starting to cry yet again. Tara leaned forward and touched her forehead to her daughter's, her hand resting on Jill's face.

She gazed at her at as she said a little tensely, "I was always there if you wanted to talk. You know that."

Jill nodded slightly, "I know, Mom. I just couldn't, then."

Relaxing, Tara let it go and smiled once more, "Okay, so what did you do when you drove off?"

Jill managed to stop the tears again, wiping her face dry once more before replying.

"I didn't want to think about anything. I just wanted to shut the world away. I pointed the car in a direction and just kept going. I think I was halfway to the state line before the weather got bad enough to make me take notice. By that time it was way too late. I turned the car around and was trying to get back to town, or at least find someplace I could take shelter. But the snowfall was so thick I couldn't even see the road. I ended up driving off of it and into a ditch. I'm pretty sure I ruptured one of the fuel cells when I did that."

"Yes, that's what Kim told me when they found the car and looked it over."

"Yeah. Well, I mean the flames just started shooting into the car and I barely got out of there before it completely went up."

Tara frowned, "So this was the same night you left town, right? How did Mr. Daniels find you?"

"He didn't. I found him, sort of. I walked through the storm down the road for about a couple of miles."

"Two miles!", Tara exclaimed, "In that weather? My God, Jill! How?"

"Hey, Mom.", Jill said, "I'm pretty tough, you know. Maybe as tough as you when you were my age."

Tara slowly shook her head, wide eyed, "I don't think I could have done that, dear."

Jill smirked wryly through her sadness, "Somehow, Mom, I think you could.", then her demeanor became serious again.

"Anyway, I walked until I couldn't walk any more. Then I heard something through the wind and I saw this old man in a black leather jacket. What he was doing out in the middle of all this, I don't know, but he called to me and motioned for me to follow. I managed to get back up on my feet and he went into the woods. I almost lost him. But I could still see him in the trees. I went about fifty yards until I saw the cabin. The old man was on the steps just waving me on, to come towards him. I was really out of it by then. I stumbled all the way to cabin door and passed out right there on the doorstep."

Tara listened quietly and intently.

"So this was Mr. Daniels' cabin, right? And Mr. Daniels was the one who led you there?"

"Oh no, Mom", rebutted Jill softly, "Mr. Daniels wasn't the old man. I think he went on home. I found out later the cabin belonged to Mr. Daniels. He was already inside when I hit his front door. I really was totally out of it. When I came to, I was sleeping on a mattress in front of a fire, and I was so cold."

"Okay, that makes sense. I was a little puzzled since I know Mr. Daniels is closer to my age. You must have been really hypothermic."

"Yeah, that's what Mr. Daniels said. My clothes were all drenched and were hung on a line and drying."

Tara's face suddenly went pale, her features stunned.

"What?", she said softly, "You were unconscious, weren't you? He took your clothes off of you?"

Jill's eyes got wide and alarmed, "No, Mom! No! It's all right. Nothing happened! My clothes were freezing wet. He said I was too hypothermic and he was afraid I could die if he didn't get the wet clothes off to where I could warm up properly. He hung the clothes up to dry and covered me with the blanket. Then he lay down next to me to try and warm me up with his own body heat along with the fire. When I woke up, I found him sleeping next to me on the other side of the fire, so I could get the most warmth from both sides, I guess."

Tara was full of consternation. Judging from what Sam had said, she was sure Larry Daniels was a good man, a decent man, a loving father. But he just might have weaknesses like everybody else.

"Honey, I can understand the need for you to get your clothes off. It makes sense that you would be that hypothermic after walking two miles in that blizzard. But I..."

"Mom.", Jill said, "He said that when he took my underwear off, he covered me with the blanket first. Later, I asked him why. He said that he was scared that if I woke up while he was doing that, I would accuse him of... ...you know."

"Yes. But, Jill, you were unconscious. How do you know."

Jill looked at her mother very seriously, a sureness set into her eyes.

"Mom.", she said, "I"m sure. I am sure he never tried anything. I think I would know if he had."

Still concerned, Tara nodded in agreement, willing to take her daughter's word and surety for now on the matter.

"Okay. So what then?"

"Well, my clothes were dry, and Larry, Mr. Daniels, turned his head while I got dressed again. Then we started to get to find out about each other, you know. What each of us was doing out there. That's when I found out about his daughter being so sick, which was why he was in that cabin in the first place trying to drink himself into oblivion."

Tara's sense of wrong suddenly surfaced again, her eyes staring.

"He was drunk? Jill, really? How can you be sure he didn't..."

Jill shook her head, "No, Mom. Yeah, he was 'under the influence', but he wasn't that plastered. Besides I think he was actually fighting it in a way. He really didn't seem to like being drunk. It was just a way to kill the pain, you know."

"Yes, I know what you mean."

"But he was totally with it, Mom. He was aware of what was happening. You know, when I first woke up, I accused him of the same thing, of touching me. He just scowled and said that 'jail bait' wasn't his style."

She barked a small laugh then, shaking her head again, "And I really could feel how my body felt, and I knew he was telling the truth. Later on after I heard him talking about his daughter Melissa, I could see he could never look at me that way. No way, Mom. He was way too caught up in his daughter dying to be interested in coming on to me like that. And he never, ever did, in any way."

Tara looked away then, judging her daughter's words and feeling better, convinced now that what she had determined to have happened was indeed true.

"When Kim's Sunhawk found the cabin, it was already crushed. What happened to it?"

Jill took a deep breath and let it out, "The snow was too much for the roof to hold. We only were there a little over thirty-six hours when it collapsed. Fortunately, we managed to get out in time before it completely came down on top of us. But Larry was worried that might happen. He had wanted to try to clear some of the snow off, but he couldn't see how to get enough leverage standing on top of his old Range Rover."

"Range Rover?", asked Tara.

"Yeah, that's what he drove up there. He's really into old trucks."

Tara snorted, and smiled sardonically to herself.

"What is it, Mom?"

Tara just shook her head and said, "Nothing important, dear. Go on."

"Well, he tried to clear the snow off, but he couldn't because the storm was still too bad. So he began to store some of the stuff from the cabin in the Range Rover..."

"And I know the roads were too bad to drive.", Tara interjected.

"Right", Jill continued, "I mean the Range Rover was practically buried under a snow bank too. We could get inside of it, if we had to.

"But it was the second day following the night after I got there. The cabin finally did collapse under the weight of the snow. All we could do was try and make it for old man Sandidge's place. Oh, by the way, Mr. Daniels thinks he's the old man who led me to the cabin. He said he was a crazy old ex-bush pilot who loves being out in that weather."

Tara digested that and replied, "I heard about where Kim found you, honey, But if I understand you correctly, that was over four miles away from the cabin. You could barely make two miles before. And then you were also already exhausted, and the blizzard was still going full force."

Jill nodded again, "I know, Mom. But we had no choice. Larry knew what he was doing. He had an extra parka for me, and better footware, and a backpack to carry supplies in. It wasn't that much, but it was a lot better than what I started out with from the car. But I did give out about halfway there, I think. I went unconscious, but Larry carried me the rest of the way."

"He carried you?", Tara asked.

Jill nodded, 'Yeah, Mom. He did."

She became very quiet, looking introspective, waiting a minute or so to collect her words again.

"Mom.", she said, "You should know that when he told me about his daughter, Melissa, that she was dying of brain cancer, I kinda thought that if I told him about you and that you might be able to help, maybe that would get him thinking about getting me back home a little quicker. I wasn't sure at first if he would...

"But he said that he and his wife had already exhausted all the usual treatments, and they were looking at all the experimental ones. They were looking at several doctors, and you were one of them. But he told me that his wife had already decided on you and that Melissa had probably already being taken to see you, after he had left for the cabin. When he realized you were my mom, his eyes just sort of got hazy, like he knew maybe that you were doing everything to save his daughter. He said he owed you a debt he could never repay."

Her eyes filed silently with tears again.

"Mom, I found out on the Sunhawk he carried me that last mile. He refused to put me down. I couldn't walk any further, and he just kept going and going, with me on his back."

She became quiet again, introspective.

"He said it was worth it to give you your daughter back."

Tara gulped, looking down a second. Slowly she gazed back up at Jill with a strained smile.

"I know, honey. I know how much I owe him."

"Will he lose his feet, Mom?"

"Who told you about that?", she asked.

"One of the medics. She was bandaging them. They didn't look good."

Tara nodded stiffly, "Mostly. From what I hear, they'll save his heels, but he'll never walk completely normal again. Probably, he won't be able to run."

Jill nodded sadly, "I'm so sorry. I mean, I understand we did reach the Sandidge place just as Aunt Kim and the girls came down in the helicopter to take us home."

She started crying again, silently, and Jill was gathered back into her mother's arms again.

"I know. I know.", Tara said soothingly, "Don't worry about it, honey. We can't change that. We can only try and work with what we have. You're both alive and well. And that's the important thing."

"I know, Mom.", Jill kept saying through the tears, holding on to her closely, "Is he all right? Has his wife seen him yet?"

"I think so. Everything has happened so fast since you got back. I heard they had to change the bandages on his feet and hands again. He's got some frostbite on his face too."

"What about his daughter?"

Tara took a deep breath and answered, "I"ve pulled out all the stops on that one, Jill. I don't know if she's going to make it. So far though, she's still fighting."

"Is she that bad?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid she is."

"Mom, I want to see him. I want to make sure he's okay. Can I see him? Please?"

Tara looked at her, unsure.

"Jill, you just got back out of the storm. You're still weak."

"You can take me in a wheelchair. Please, Mom."

"They're probably working on him, honey. I'm not sure it's a good time."

"Find out, will you? I really need to see him. Please."

Giving in, Tara said, "Okay. Let me go and find out, then.

She got up from the side of the bed and went to the nurses station. They were in Ward Two, the orthopedic ward, and she was not as familiar with the staff here, but she recognized the charge nurse on duty, who smiled as she looked up.

"Good evening, Dr. Monroe.", she said cheerily.

"Hello, Alice.", Tara replied, "Good to see you."

"Same here, ma'am. And I just want to say how happy I am they found her."

Tara grinned hugely in appreciation, 'Thank you, Alice."

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, is Mr. Daniels here yet?"

"Yes, he's in room five. His wife is with him now. They finished changing the bandages. Dr. Berthold has already seen him and written orders. Looks like they're going to wait until he demarcates the dead areas before deciding on surgery, unless he keeps bleeding."

"Yes, I understand. My daughter wants to see him, to thank him and see how he's doing. Do you think he's able to take visitors right now."

Alice smiled, "He's settled in nicely, now. I don't think he would mind seeing you two. But you look like you could use some coffee. Can I get you a cup?"

Tara smiled back and replied, "Thanks so much, I can use it."

Tara headed back to her daughter's room. As she entered, Jill looked up expectantly.

"Well?"

Tara smiled, "Yes, I think it's okay. I'll go find a wheelchair."

"Great!", said Jill, who threw back the covers on her bed and started to swing her legs over to the side of the bed.

"Not so fast, Jill!", warned Tara, "Take it slow."

Jill stopped momentarily and looked back at her mother a moment, then much more slowly began to sit up and get a house coat that had been supplied for her.

"Okay, Mom. I'll be careful."

Tara went to look for a wheelchair. She found one shortly and came back to the room. Jill had already slipped on the housecoat. She was weak, but able to stand long enough to transfer from the bed to the chair. Once she was settled, Tara rolled her out of the room and into the hallway. One corridor turn later, she was at the door at room five when Alice showed up with the coffee.

"I'll go on in, Mom."

"Go ahead, dear. I'll be right behind you."

Tara took the cup and took a good long draught, letting the aroma and taste roll over her, giving her some well needed invigoration. She pushed through the door after her daughter. Inside, she saw Jill next to the bed, talking to the huge man lying there. He was covered in the bed sheets except for his feet, both which were heavily bandaged as well. Already, she could see some new blood soaking through the fresh gauze. He was speaking in soft tones to Jill and Tara couldn't quite make out what he was saying at first. She couldn't see his face as Jill had stood up and was in the way, talking excitedly to him and holding on to his bandaged hands, telling him everything was going to be okay.

"Look, kiddo,", she heard him say softly, "It might not be such a good idea for your mother to meet me right now."

"But, Larry.", Jill said, "It's no bother. My mother is here with me, She wants to meet you."

Samantha was sitting on the other side of the bed, a huge smile on her face, relief seemingly having washed it clean of worry for the moment, but as she looked up and saw Tara standing there, her face suddenly went tense, as if in fear. Tara could see that there was something about her coming in just then that had made Sam afraid, and it worried her momentarily because she could sense that Sam really looked fearful because of that very fact, that Tara had come into the room. She was baffled. Why would Sam be afraid of her being there?

She stood there holding on to her coffee as the door whooshed closed, telling Jill she was there. Turning her head. Jill smiled excitedly when she saw her mother. She sat down again in the wheelchair and then turned it around to face her, sitting there holding on to one of Larry's bandaged hands, finally revealing the face of her daughter's savior.

Her face beaming, she said, "Mom, I want you to meet Larry Daniels."

Larry had ducked his head down, as if trying to hide, but he couldn't. So he slowly looked up at Tara, his eyes looking very sad and worried. His clean shaven face was still slightly edematous, but otherwise seemed okay. Sam's eyes had closed, and there was a slight grimace on her face, as if anticipating something painful.

...Time stopped cold for Tara. There was a plop on the floor as her coffee cup fell from her paralyzed fingers, spilling the steaming liquid out over the tile floor. Her face was white with a shock, her eyes frozen in a stare that could have pierced stone. Her mouth was slightly ajar, minimally trying to mouth words she was unable to conceive, much less speak, her body having become rigid.

Jill frowned at her uncomprehending, looked back at Larry, then back at her, trying to understand what was happening. The man in the bed gazed at her briefly and smiled, then turned his gaze back to her mother. The one thing Jill could see now was that somehow, somewhere, her mother already knew him. The look her mother wore also told her she had never expected to see him again, and what was even more apparent was that Jill could sense that somehow her mother had never ever wanted to see him again. Then the way the man spoke to her confirmed he knew her too.

In a small quiet voice almost breaking with anxiety, Jason Morgan said, "Hello, Tara."

* * *

**Okay, Okay...I said Larry Daniels was a new character, so sue me. But to quote a certain Jedi Master, "What I told was the truth... ...from a certain point of view". (grin)... ...The next chapter should be up in a few more days. Thanks so much to all for reading and reviewing.**


	10. Knowledge and Understanding

**For twenty-four years now, Tara has not seen him, nor expected to, and now in the most extraodinary circumstances, she must face him. In many ways this may be the most poignant chapter of them all.**

**Knowledge and Understanding**

Feeling like a sledge hammer had hit her, Tara could do nothing but stare, emotions flooding through her in a torrent to rival the flood of the Bible. Fear, astonishment, uncertainty, and rage, especially rage... ...oh God, yes, the rage. Struggling to control it, all she could do was stand there, her breathing gone shallow and raspy, her face an etching in ivory. Everyone froze in place. The only movement was Jill's eyes getting wider as she looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to understand what was happening.

Finally, Tara spoke in slow measured tones, "Jill. Leave the room, now. I need to talk to... ...to Mr. Daniels."

Jill frowned at her, puzzled, "But. Mom, what is it? Why?"

"Jill!", her mother said forcefully, even louder, "Leave! Now!"

Defiance set into her face, Jill riposted, "No! Not until you tell me why!"

Jason said softly, "Jill, maybe you should do as your mother says."

She turned on him and asked, "Why? What the _hell_ is going on here. How do you two know each other?"

Jason replied, "It was a long time ago. We-"

Fury erupting, Tara cut him off with a very controlled voice, "Did you touch her, Jason?"

Jason closed his eyes, anguish briefly crossing his features. He shook his head slowly before he opened them again and looked straight at Tara. Softly, but very firmly, he replied, "No, I did not."

A look of outrage came over Jill as she said, 'Mom! How _could_ you? I told you already about that. He never-!

"It's okay, Jill.", said Jason, calmly interrupting, "Your mother has very good reason to ask that question."

"What reason!", she shouted, gaping at him, "What could you have possibly have done!"

"_Jill_!", shouted Tara, her voice shaking with fury "I will explain it later! Now go!"

Jason looked back at her, saying gently, "Tara, maybe it would be better if I explain it."

Tara couldn't hold it in anymore, her outrage exploding from her.

"_You don't even remember what happened_!", she screamed at him.

JIll shrank into the wheelchair, stunned in sheer surprise and fear with tears starting to come down her cheeks, confused and staring wide-eyed at her mother. Jason's face was set in stone. He looked back at Tara mutely, his eyes haunted.

"I do now.", he said softly, painfully, his words resounding off the walls even louder than hers.

He said it in such a low a voice, with such suffering in his expression that it filled the entire room. It changed everything. Tara's brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to decipher exactly what he meant by it. Jill was openly crying now, shaken by her mother's outburst and not understanding why her mother was so angry and hostile, so fearful of this man who had saved her life, and whom she apparently knew very, very well. When her mother did not immediately respond to what Jason said, she turned back to him.

"She... ...she called you Jason.", she said, trembling between sobs. "Who are you?"

"Jill", said Tara sternly, yet with a pleading that crept into her voice, "This is really not a good time for this. Please. Go."

Jill looked back harshly at her mother again, rebellion still set in her eyes, yelling, "No, Mom! Everything has gone whack all of a sudden! Nothing is the way it seems! I need to find out what's going on, now! I want... ...I need to hear this! _What is this all about_?"

She tearfully turned back to the man she knew as Larry Daniels, the misery plain on her face, "Maybe I don't know who you are. But I know one thing for sure. You have done nothing to hurt me. You saved my life. I think that gives you the right to explain this."

Jason looked back at Tara, the question in his expression. Tara shut her eyes in anguish and turned to the side, hunched over, beaten, unable to do more than cross her arms and stand there looking very small.

His question answered, Jason gazed back at the girl in the wheelchair and smiled with a small lopsided grin.

"Your mother's right about my name, Jill.", he said, "My name is Jason Morgan. Larry Daniels is a pseudonym which I use along with the beard to keep from being recognized."

"But, why? What for?", she asked.

She looked at him closer, her eyes going wide in surprise.

"Wait a minute! You're that guy Jeff was always raving about.! You're _that _Jason Morgan?"

She remembered now. Jeff idolized this guy. He seemed to come out of nowhere from the Italian leagues to star as the great forward for the Denver Nuggets from 2010 to 2025. After that, he started to slow down and was seen in more of a supportive role as age was creeping up on him, as it did any professional athlete. But Jeff was always talking about what a great shooter he was, how many records he had broken, how many consecutive games he had played, how many championships he had won for his team.

Even more intriguing was the one thing that Jeff didn't know about him, which was his private life, and that had always galled him. Apparently Jason Morgan was famed throughout the NBA for it. It never really interested Jill that much, She would turn her attention off when Jeff droned on and on and on about how secretive his hero was, how Jason Morgan was able to stay completely out of the public spotlight. Nobody knew what he did off the court, which only added to his mystique and his appeal. It wasn't known knew if he was married, single, had family, what he did, or where he went, which was an incredible feat consideirng the power of the press these days to be able to ferret out any secret they wanted to know about any celebrity, and Jason Morgan was no minor celebrity. Jeff always speculated it something to do with a criminal record of some sort, a rumor that apparently dogged him since the beginning of his career, but he always downplayed it and even doubted it was true. The official team biography listed him as single with an address in Denver that actually belonged to a guest townhouse owned by the team that was used by visitors. But Jeff's worship of his hero was such he was not really bothered by any of these dark rumors. He never thought it an issue with which to be concerned where the greatest ball player to ever live was concerned, at least in his estimation. 'Even if it's true, everyone makes mistakes', he had said.

It all came back to her now as she looked at Jason in wonder.

"Yeah.", she said, mildly daunted, "My boy—ex-boyfriend loved talking about you. You're really 'the man' as far as he's concerned. You're the star center for the Nuggets from way back?"

Jason nodded slightly, smiling sadly.

"Okay", Jill continued, "I guess. It really is hard to recognize you without the beard now. it does disguise real well. But then Jeff always said you were a real stickler for privacy. So I can understand why you use the fake name and all that. But what does that have to do with all this?"

Jason looked at Jill with that tense smile, clearly uncomfortable, and dreading what he was about to say to her.

"No, Jill. You don't understand. That's not why I used a pseudonym and a disguise."

"Then, why?"

Jason grimaced and took a deep breath, quietly replying, "Because I'm a convicted felon... ...and a registered sex offender."

Jill blinked, her mouth dropping open, "Wha? What are you saying? What did you do?"

"Not what, Jill... ...who...", Jason said tensely.

Jason's eyes briefly fell back on her mother, before dropping down in shame. Realizing now what he meant, Jill blanched, staring wide eyed at him, and suddenly began backing away in the wheelchair, gasping.

All this time, Samantha Morgan had sat quietly, head bowed in prayer, staying out of it. But now she quickly came to life.

"Jill! Don't!", she cried, "He is not that man anymore! I can tell you he could never, ever be what he used to be! Please! Listen to him! Let him explain!"

This was more than Tara could stand.

"How could you?", she said coldly, staring hard at her, "How could you lie to me like that?"

Unexpectedly, Sam turned that angry stare back with one of her own, sternly facing Tara down, surprising her.

"And would you have taken my daughter's case if you knew Jason was her father?", she riposted, standing her ground, " Don't you think I would risk hiding something like that, doing whatever it took if it meant gaining any chance of saving her life?"

Taken aback, Tara replied, "Sam! Who her father is would never have entered into my decision to treat Melissa! Not even Jason!"

"I know that now.", said Sam quietly, painfully, her face softening, "But, how was I to know that in the beginning? And once I did get to know you, Jason wasn't here anyway. I didn't want to complicate matters any worse. But still...

Sam looked down a moment, her composure steeling hard once more, but not in anger.

"Tara, I've been married to this man for almost twenty years now.", she said, "Don't you think I would know him by now? Don't you think that I would know he would never hide anything from me, that I would always know what was in his heart when he got down on his knees and confessed everything he did to you before he told me he loved me and wanted to marry me? Do you think he would, or even could, hide anything from me after telling me something like that? You don't know what we have to go through! What we have to endure when people know who he is outside of basketball, and what his record is! I am telling you, he is not the person you knew in high school!"

Tara gawked in surprise, too stunned to answer. She had gotten to know Samantha well enough to know she was a strong and decent woman, and certainly not a stupid or foolish one. She realized that if she believed that much in Jason, there must be something to what she was saying.

But it was her analytical mind telling her this. Her emotions were still controlled by terror. She didn't know what to do, frozen in indecision. She saw Jill had distanced herself almost to the door, her hands covering her face and crying again. She could only imagine how her daughter's feelings were even more mixed up, unable to think straight.

"Tara."

She looked at Jason again, and saw the pleading on his face.

"Please. All I want to do is explain to Jill. I will tell her everything she wants to know, and you can correct me if you think I'm not telling her the truth."

"Why?", she asked in a stunned, breathless whisper.

"Because... ... because I owe you too much not to.", he replied.

Tara's whole being shook with uncertainty. She stared at Jason, still trying to get some sense of what she should do. He could sense she was wavering, wanting only to gather her daughter up and get out, and his face became resigned to that conclusion. She could see he knew she wanted none of it, and his demeanor clearly showed his pain. But that caught Tara's attention. The Jason she knew had never done anything like this before.

It was a look she could recall never seeing on him either, like... ...like a look of humility? Off forgiveness? Maybe for others, maybe for himself? She found herself thinking, 'If he forgives himself, he really knows what he did was wrong, and if he realizes how wrong...'

She trembled from pure emotion, from fear, and realized it. Making a conscious effort, she took a couple of deep breaths, then slowly turned and took a small chair that was next to the door and set it beside her daughter. She sat down and took Jill's hand, holding on firmly. Looking deeply into her daughter's frightened eyes, she tried to give her a sense that she was there for her, that everything would be alright, that she would protect her.

She glanced back at Jason, before looking back to Jill, and said in a very small voice, "If she still wants to hear you, okay."

Surprised, Jill returned that look intensely, looked back to Jason, and slowly nodded. Jason took a slow deep breath and wet his lips. He cautiously began.

"As you see now, your mother and I know each other. It was a long time ago, in high school. We were classmates. She was on the cheer squad, as I'm sure you'd know. I was the center for the basketball team. We first really got to know each other when the two of us began dating during the last part of our junior year.

"We dated for about three months into the first part of the summer. It was then your mother broke up with me and started dating your father. You see, I was a different person back then. I was full of myself, self indulgent, selfish, egotistical, spoiled rich, thinking that I was the hottest thing in town. It was like, you know, I was the 'star' of the basketball team. I was 'THE' guy. They couldn't win State without me. And of course, being who I was, there was the 'food chain'."

Tara grimaced, but said nothing. She gazed off to the side, not wanting to look at him. Jill noted her expression, worried about it, but turned her attention back to Jason, still needing to know more. Sam sat back down by her husband, holding on to his arm in support as Jason went on.

"Anyway, I was one of those kids who thought nothing was too good for him. My parents were wealthy. I was a top basketball prospect heading for a college scholarship and then a superstar career in the pros. I was going to be gazillionaire. I thought I was so much better than everyone, and your mother was such a... ...she was such a beauty."

Tara's face flushed with revulsion, groaning, "Please."

"That's just straight truth, Tara." he replied in defense, " I'm not playing you. You were, and still are, a beautiful woman. My point is that I felt I deserved to have someone as beautiful as you because of my status, because I was at the top of that 'food chain'."

He stared at Jill again, "You see, I wasn't looking at your mother like a girlfriend, like someone I should care about. She was a status symbol, a trophy. I was too blind to see what I was doing."

He gazed back at Tara, his look softer and sounding wearier, "But your mother soon saw through me well enough. So she ditched me and stared going out with someone I considered, well, someone not fit to kiss the ground we walked on."

He looked back at Jill, the girl staring back at him, still entranced, but now a little disturbed at how he had described her father.

Jason went on, "I thought it was such an insult to be ditched in favor of someone like your dad, someone we would consider a 'dweeb', if you know that term. I thought I loved your mother. The truth was I had no idea what real love was back then.

"But what made things bad was that I'm alcoholic."

"Ye-yeah.", said Jill haltingly, "I kinda figured that from the cabin."

"True.", he replied with a momentary smirk, "But I was a lot worse back then. When you saw me in the cabin, I had been on the wagon for twenty four years. I hadn't taken a drink since the last time I saw your mother."

"But it was Melissa's illness that made you break this time, wasn't it?", Jill asked.

He nodded slowly, then said, "It's still no excuse."

"Maybe. But I think it's understandable." replied Jill, "But you said you were worse."

Jason sighed and answered her, "Yeah. I refused to recognize I had a problem back then. I was young. I was stupid. My drinking was a whole lot worse, to the point I would black out, not remember anything I did while I was drunk. My whole senior year was like that, angry, brooding, resentful at your mother. Sometimes, I would get so roaring drunk, wanting to get back at your father for taking your mother away from me. I did things, things that were... ...were really wrong."

Jill gulped, 'That's why you said you said you screwed up back in the cabin, isn't it? You were talking about how you really screwed up with a girl in high school. You were talking about my Mom, weren't you?"

"Yeah, kiddo, I was.", he said with another sigh, "And I didn't even know who you were at the time."

"But what did you do, Lar— Jason? What did you do... ...to my mother?"

Jason became pale. Jill felt her mother's hand suddenly tighten in hers.

His face filling with a deep anguish, Jason's voice got very soft, "It was just before the State Tournament. We had won the regional championship game, to be honest, because of my play and a fall away jumper at the buzzer. After that game, I was the hero at school. I could do no wrong. I could have had anything I wanted. But what I wanted was the one thing I couldn't have. One night, I got so fed up with it, I got really drunk again. I found out that your father liked to walk your mother home to her house on most nights, so I went looking for them, and I found them."

Jill glanced at her mother. Tara's eyes were shut tight, her face almost wincing in expectation of the hurt she felt coming.

Jason went on, "You have to understand, Jill. I had nothing in me but rage, insane rage. I'm not saying that as any kind of excuse. I just want you to know what kind of monster I had become."

Sam grabbed his arm a little tighter, saying, "Honey."

Jason reached over and patted her hand and said, "It's okay, Samantha. I know I'm not one any longer. But I have to admit to her what I was then. She has to know that."

He turned his attention back to Jill again.

"You see, I wanted nothing more than to hurt them both for what I thought they had done to me. So I found them on the road and confronted them. Your father tried to protect your mother by getting between us. What he didn't know was how far I was willing to go. I... ...I hit your father with a tire iron, cut his head pretty good and knocked him unconscious."

Jill gasped, but Tara looked up wide eyed. This surprised her. She knew he wasn't lying. It was the way he said it... ...He did remember.

Jason went on, "After your father went down, I grabbed your mother and... ...and I slammed her up against a tree..."

"Then I ripped most of her clothes off and forced myself on her."

"Oh my God.", Jill moaned in sheer pain, turning to Tara and holding on to her, burying her face into her shoulder and crying.

Tara stroked her hair, settling her down, saying, "Honey, it's okay. He didn't succeed. Your father woke up and stopped him. I was okay."

Jill looked up at her, quietly sobbing, "But Mom!", then looked back at Jason with her tear stained face wrenched in agony.

Jason said, "Your mother's right. I didn't... ...uh, get through. Your father woke up in time and prevented me from being able to do succeed, and he beat the hell out of me pretty good too, I might add. I didn't get a chance to do any more harm after that. My team mates came and got me then. I only saw your parents once more, which was the next day. I wasn't really looking for your mother at the time, although I had hoped to see her. Now, you can see how much bigger I am than your father, and even after the previous night, he still didn't hesitate to try and stop me from getting close to your mother."

Jason licked his lips, and took a deep breath before he went on.

"Jill, I have no doubt you love your father. So I'll tell you something I think you should hear. That next day, I wasn't drunk anymore, just hung over. It would have been no problem for me to plaster him, and still he didn't back down. I asked him why, why he willing to risk getting the hell beat out of him. You should know that, in front of virtually the entire student body, he said it was because he loved her. You should know that was an incredibly brave thing for hm to do. I didn't realize it then. In fact, I didn't understand it for a long time. But I finally did understand why he did it."

He looked back at Sam and smiled momentarily before facing Jill again with a smile.

"When I fell in love with my wife, that's when I understood what your father did, and I still think it was probably the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do."

The tears came down Tara's face. She was in shock, knowing he really remembered. She could hear it in his voice. He wasn't just delivering some dialogue of a written account. He... ...remembered.

And he was admitting what he did, saying it was wrong, and willing to pay the price. She realized that somehow he had turned his life around, could see how he became successful, married, had a child. For twenty four years, she had never been sure Kevin had done the right thing. Now for the first time she knew. Kevin was right to give him the chance. She had never really quite believed he was justified in being so lenient on Jason, until now. She could feel the rage subsiding from her consciousness, even though there was still the hurt in her heart. She wasn't ready to bring herself to let it go yet.

Jason continued, "After that, I was arrested and jailed. Eventually I was convicted of sexual assault, thrown out of school, put on probation, was serving time in a facility down south for sexual offenders. My life was gone, destroyed. I would never get a chance to go to a major college, play basketball professionally."

"But you did.", said Jill, "You did make it to the pros."

"That's right.", said Jason, "That was when I found myself. That was when I gave myself to the Lord. I owe it all to Him.

"You see, I finally understood what I had done then. I knew I had to pay for it. But God is merciful, and he still gave me things I didn't deserve. Even before I got out of the sexual offender program, I was given a chance to do what I loved, to play basketball. I got an offer to play in the Italian Leagues. It was a great offer. One that would give me a chance at playing in the pros. I spent three years in Italy. By then, Denver liked what they saw, and I was blessed to be offered a contract. The rest you probably know, more or less...

"That was the start of my career. That was my life starting over again, because I found a church that fit me well, and God gave me my greatest blessing."

He smiled as he turned to his wife again and stroked her arm as she gave him a smile back.

"We met in church. I knew almost from the moment I met her, she was the one. And then, there was Melissa."

Jason closed his eyes and cried silent tears as his wife sat up onto the bed and drew him into her arms.

He looked back at her, "Please, Tara. I need to know. Will she live?"

Tara was still in shock from Jason's confession, but the question brought her back momentarily.

She bit down on her lip before she answered, "We... ...we are doing everything we can, Jason. I just can't tell you with certainty now. Her chances are about fifty-fifty. I'll talk to you both a little more about it after... ...this."

Jason closed his eyes again and turned back towards Sam, nodding his understanding. After a moment, he looked back to Jill.

He said to her, "Jill, do you see now why I owe your mother a debt I can never repay? It wasn't just for Melissa. It was for what I had done to her."

Jill swallowed hard. She still looked troubled, but was not so upset as she had been. She slowly wiped her tears away and looked at him again.

"I understand, Jason.", Jill said, "But I just don't know how I feel, right now. This is too much, too much. I don't know... ...what... ...what to do..."

Abruptly, she turned her wheelchair around, saying, "I have to go."

"It's okay. I understand.", Jason replied quietly as Tara got up, opened the door for her daughter, and let her wheel herself out. She was about to follow when Jason spoke up again.

"Tara. Please. I need to say something more."

Tara froze at the door for a moment, then slowly closed it, turned around, and faced him. Strangely, there was no fear, the undying rage tempered somewhat. It was still far too uncomfortable for her. But he had at least earned the right to be heard. She stood silently and waited.

"You need to know that I told Samantha everything about what I did to you, everything she needed to know.", he said, "But the one thing I didn't tell her was who you were. She didn't want to know that much detail, and it really wasn't important that she know that. Neither of us certainly expected to ever meet you. But after we had exhausted all of the standard treatments for Melissa, Samantha worked tirelessly, trying to find something on the internet, some new treatment, some experimental protocol, something that would help our daughter. She looked so hard and for so long, until she finally found a doctor she thought would be the best chance Melissa would have."

He smiled briefly as he remembered.

"She was so excited the day she found your name and the details on your research, she called me immediately into our office at home. My God, Tara!. She was so excited!. She thought she had found the answer to our prayers. But then I looked a the computer screen and saw your name."

Jason took a deep breath again before speaking again.

"I swear my blood ran cold when I saw to whom it was she wanted to entrust our daughter's life. I kept reading the screen, hoping that this was a different Tara Monroe, someone I didn't know. But then I read your bio, and saw Kevin listed as your husband. My God, Tara. I knew Kevin was going to medical school. I. didn't know you would go with him into that."

Tara swallowed hard, replying, "He was my inspiration, Jason. I could have never done it without him, and I love doing it."

He nodded, "I truly believe that. Only someone who could love what they're doing could go as far and do as much as you have. And you were right about Kevin at the park."

It took a moment, but Tara remembered the Memorial Day Picnic, that incredible day which had brought her so much joy, and peace. She remembered how Jeremy Wendell had wanted to talk to her about Jason, remembering what she told him.

"You were right.", Jason repeated softly, "Jeremy told me what you said, that Kevin was, and still is, the biggest man on the field."

Tara looked down, the tears coming again. Jason went on.

"But I'm getting off subject. Samantha didn't know who you were. I kept pleading with her to see if there was someone else who would give Melissa a better chance. She couldn't understand why I was resisting sending Melissa to you. We argued pretty strongly about it until she finally put her foot down that she was taking Melissa to you for treatment and that was the end of the discussion. That's when I told her you were the one I had attacked."

Jason shook his head with a short, alomst whimsical snort.

"Samantha just kind of blinked at me a couple of times and said, 'So? What does that have to do with saving our daughter?'"

Then Jason reached up and held on to his wife, his voice quavering again, "That's when I broke, and I ran. I was too afraid to face you, Tara, and for the first time in twenty-four years, I bought a bottle of whiskey, then five more, and I ran to the cabin."

He reached out and grabbed Samantha's hand, his face bowed down. Sam squeezed for all the support she could give him.

"I understand, Jason.", Tara said quietly, "I understand. I am... ...I am... ...there is no other word I can think of, but I am awed. I never expected you could change this much. But why? What finally did it?"

He looked back up at her and said very softly, "Because I remembered, Tara. I remembered."

Tara saw the anguish come back to his face as she asked, "How?"

He licked his lips for a moment, then said, "It was two years after that... ...that day. I was in Italy, playing ball, doing well, enjoying my life again. I started having these nightmares. They were ugly, disturbing, but I couldn't remember them when I woke up. It started to affect my play. After talking to the team doctor, they sent me to a therapist to try and figure it out. He used some sort of medication and relaxation techniques which sort of put me in a, you know, tranquilized state."

Tara nodded, "Yes, I know what you're talking about."

Jason continued, "After a while I started to remember the nightmares in bits and pieces. They were images of that night. That's when I realized I had even completely blocked out the images that Kim showed me on her com in the gym even though I wasn't drunk then. I had completely blocked out everything else that happened in the gym, too. But that was the starting point. That's when I told the therapist about that night. In the beginning, I could only tell him what had been told to me. That gave him a focus to work on and then we continued to work on regaining those memories. It took about eight months, but with his help, I remembered it all.

Jason's face wrenched into an agonized frown.

"Tara, I can't tell you how hard that was. God knows how much I did not want to remember. It was, and still is, the most incredibly painful thing I've ever done. I damn near lost my contract with the basketball team because how badly my play suffered. But I knew had no choice. I realized then I had to remember. I had to know exactly what I had done to you. I had to feel the memories going through me again, to know as personally as I could, every moment, every pain, both mine and yours. And what I truly think changed me more than anything was the realization how much of a monster I really was that night, as evil as it gets. What really broke me, Tara, it wasn't what I did, but what was in my mind, and in my heart that night.

"If Kevin hadn't stopped me, I would have done it. I would have raped you."

Tara's face went white, silently staring at Jason, looking deep in his eyes and seeing a pain there that haunted him even worse than the pain that haunted her. She couldn't deny it any longer. This was indeed a different person from the boy she once knew, completely different. The Jason Morgan she used to know so long ago no longer existed. In his place was this man who had somehow gained the courage to own up to the wrongs of his past and confess them, no matter how painful, no matter how afraid he was, even after stumbling once again. And she could see he was a man remembering the troubled boy he used to be with such regret and aching, somehow still trying to understand how he could have inflicted the torture and suffering he had forced on her.

She trembled as she remembered how she had told Jeremy that day in the park how she had forgiven him, and realized for the first time she really didn't mean it. She had only said that for Kevin's sake and put it away and out of her mind. She knew intellectually he was right, and tried to accept on that level. But deep down, emotionally, she never really forgave him. The rage, the fury, the hurt was too easily resurrected every time a reminder intruded upon her.

Tara recalled how she and Kevin would often enjoy sporting events on viewer, just about any sport, except basketball. They never watched that, because it always was so uncomfortable for her, and fortunately, Kevin never really cared for the sport. They knew Jason was playing for the Nuggets as his name would often surface in the sports news. But they never discussed him, and what little news that came to them about him came from the viewer, and that was the extent of their knowledge of him. Even when he was the toast of the league during his championship days, they usually switched channels whenever his name came up.

When Jill started dating Jeff Masick, that threatened to bring up all the bad reminders again. Although she was justified eventually in her suspicions of him, she realized that in the beginning she was unfairly prejudiced, solely because he was the basketball 'star'. And there were other little things about him that would remind her of Jason and upset her. Kevin was always so patient with her, knowing what was bothering her, not pushing, waiting for her to talk about it if she wanted, but she never did. She never did.

Tara looked up at Jason again. She could see the face of the boy so long ago still set in the features of the man he was now, yet nothing of that teenager remained in his expression, or lay behind his resigned eyes, and she realized that his pain was actually worse than hers.

Her emotions were roiling in a hurricane of doubt, redirected anger, pain, sadness... ...possibly relief? She knew she couldn't stay. Like Jill, she had to get away, to sort this out, to find Kevin and sink into his protective embrace, to feel safe again as he was always able to do when she felt threatened by the world, anything to take away this awful emotional deluge in which she was now drowning.

Timidly, she said, "I'm sorry. I have to go."

Jason nodded and replied softly, "I know."

She turned and opened the door to leave, but hesitated a moment halfway through. Slowly, she looked back at him.

"Thank you, Jason.", she whispered, "Thank you... ...for my daughter's life."

She swiftly turned and left the room. As the door whooshed shut, Jason turned to Samantha and hugged her, both of them silently crying.

* * *

Outside the room, Tara paused at the nurses station, stunned, her thoughts rambling incoherently in her mind, gazing off in the distance. She looked like a zombie slowly walking across the floor. Alice looked up and stared in consternation, coming up to her in alarm.

"Dr. Monroe. Are you alright? Is something wrong? Is there anything I can do?"

Tara's attention snapped back to her surroundings as she looked at the nurse and smiled, saying, "No. No, Alice. Everything's fine. I just had a little surprise, that's all. I'm okay."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm fine. But thank you. I'm all right."

"Very well, Doctor.", the nurse said hesitantly as she returned to her duties slowly, looking over her shoulder at Tara every now and then just to make sure.

But she was far from okay. Tara walked slowly down the corridor towards Ward Six. A shudder went through her. She couldn't sense her feet because of how numb she felt. Somehow, she ended up somewhere else and she kept walking, walking and thinking. Before she knew it, more than a hour has passed, and she knew she had to go back and talk to Jill, and check on Melissa. She decided to do the latter first. Somehow, she made it back to Ward Six. It took a tremendous effort, but she willed herself to look at Melissa's chart and see if anything had changed. She found things were unchanged, except that maybe her potassium was still a little low, so she adjusted the IV drip rate up a little higher. Going to the room, She checked the little girl's scanner monitor, watching the heart tracing, noting the vitals, observing the electrolytes changing once every second in real time measurement. If they kept that up, they would have to change out the electrode sensors very soon as they would wear out quickly with this much use. But everything was on a steady course. There was nothing more she needed to do here. Sam had slipped back into the room before her and was sleeping in a chair next to the bed, so she didn't wake her as she stepped back out. She was relieved that Melissa's condition was stable.

The weight of her emotions would not leave her. As she trudged back towards Jill's room, she couldn't stop the tears as it all rampaged through her mind again. She didn't know how long she spent walking back to Ward Two, but she did make it, and just as she entered, she heard footsteps coming towards her. It was Kevin, coming out of Jill's room. He reached out to her and held on to both of her arms.

"Honey, are you okay?", he cried, "I've talked to Jill. She told me about Jason. What happened? Are you hurt?"

Tara gaped at him, this man who knew how to handle this so much better than she did.

She softly whispered, "Hold me."

He gathered her into his arms and held her as tightly as he could, as she did him, melting into her soul mate and drinking in the security and safety of his embrace that she so desperately needed then. She let it go then, crying deeply and releasing very tension, every hurt as he slowly stroked her hair and shushed her softly. They stood there that way for a long while as he patiently waited for her to let it all out.

"Oh, my God, Kevin.", she whispered, the tears starting down again, "Oh, God."

"I know, honey. I know.", he said as reassuringly as he could, "Jill told me everything."

After a while longer, she pulled back and dried her tears as best she could. Kevin searched her face closely for some clue of what she felt.

In response, she said, "I'm okay, Kevin. I'm okay. I'm just thankful Jill is alive and unharmed. I don't want to think about anything else right now. I can't. It's too much, and I had to check on Melissa."

"No.", said Kevin, "No, you don't. I checked myself, and there's nothing significantly changed. They'll call you if anything does happen."

"Kevin, I really do need to check on her progress."

"No, honey. You don't!", he replied firmly, "You're just trying to distract yourself. That's not a good way to take care of your patient. I've asked Kim's mom to watch her for awhile. I think she should be able to handle that without any problems. She doesn't have to deal with any of the intricacies of chemo at this point, so you won't be required for that. But you need to rest, and you need to reconcile yourself to all this."

She looked deeply into his eyes, saying, "You always knew, didn't you? You knew I couldn't let it go."

Kevin grimaced as he met her gaze, "I knew. I had always hoped that in time you could. I certainly didn't expect anything like this to happen."

"I don't know what to think anymore."

"All the more reason for you not to deal with anything else right now. Come back to the room. You need rest, and time to think."

"And you?"

"I asked Dr. Gallard to cover me for the next two days. He still owes me for Thanksgiving. I'm not going anywhere else."

"What about Jill?"

"She's going to sleep now. She's pretty shaken up too, but I think she'll be able to get some rest now."

Tara had such a look of relief, knowing he was going to be there for her through this. She drew him back in, softly kissed him, and then hugged him closely yet again.

"Come on.", he said, "I'm putting you to bed. You need rest and sleep."

Still holding on to her, he turned and starting walking her down the hallway towards their quarters.

"You won't leave?", she asked.

"You aren't leaving my arms tonight."

* * *

**Tara must now struggle with her feelings about Jason, while the search for answers about Kim's new arch-foe goes on. The next chapter will be out in a few days.**


	11. Old Friends and New Enemies

**Authors Note: I have borrowed further from Season Four by incuding Hana as she was an intergral part of the Yono storyline to begin with, and for the purposes of the story here, her character fits very well. Kim begins to discover more of the new threat that faces Team Possible, and there is a joyous reunion between former arch-enemies who are now sisters in all but blood.**

**Old Friends and New Enemies**

For the second time in a day, Kim Possible clanged the door of the Sunhawk open right as it landed, jumping out on to the tarmac of the hangar and heading straight for the BATCC. As she strode toward the command center, the OD, a navy lieutenant, and his subordinates quickly came up alongside worriedly perusing clip boards, each eager to report the findings of his or her particular mission. Kim took them one by one as they walked. Rapidly, they went through innumerable little details and seemingly unimportant things, each one she had to take in stride and attend, because they actually were important. 'Such was the government', she thought as she handled the problems, which she had to do now as they had been delayed from before.

That was becasue things went royally crazy around Team Possible just after she had gotten Jill and Larry to the medical center due to a new bogie being reported back at the Sandidge farm. Fearing the return of the giant Apache-like helicopter, she scrambled five Sunhawks, including Dragonrider, had them armed to the teeth, and immediately went back out in search of it. This time she didn't even bother disguising the fact she had gone out on the mission. Unfortunately, she found nothing when she got there.

And what perturbed her more was that just before she left on that wild goose chase, she had gone back to BATCC to talk to Wade. When she was alone, he piped in then and told her he hadn't wanted to talk to her about Larry Daniels with anyone else around. That was when he told her he was really Jason Morgan. Kim nearly went apoplectic in surprise. She immediately feared the confrontation that could so easily happen, and even started back to the medical wards to control the situation before it could get out of hand, but there was no time. The bogie at the Sandidge farm suddenly popped up right then and she immediately had to scramble and go back out on Dragonrider. She told Wade to get Ron on the sitch ASAP, but Wade reassured her, saying he didn't think it was necessary. He reported on everything that Jason had accomplished since high school, and he reminded Kim that he did save Jill's life. She hesitated, then accepted his assessment, but told him to have Ron check up on it anyway.

On her way back from the mission to the Sandidge farm, she commed Wade again about Tara, to make sure everything was okay. Wade explained that about the time she took off, it had been too late to do anything anyway. Jill and Tara had already been in Jason's room by that time. But apparently everything seemed to have gone fairly well. Kim _so_ wanted to talk to Tara right then, to make she was okay.

It had to wait as she walked towards BATCC. After everyone else's reports and problems had been handled, the OD himself piped in, just as perturbed with everything that had come his way. He looked as irritated as Kim was.

"Commander, I've got the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee screaming at me."

"He called you personally?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am. 'Fraid he did."

"So what?", Kim retorted in the bad mood she was now in.

"He found out you went primary on the mission, ma'am... ...again"

Kim snorted in derision, "Tough! Let him do the job then."

"But ma'am."

"Don't worry about it, lieutenant. I'll handle him later. What about that residual ghost on the radar? We found nothing out there."

"It may have been a real ghost, Commander. Even though ComIntel showed us what to look for, it's still real hard to pick them out of the surrounding weather artifacts on the radar."

"What about the other bogies that we confirmed?"

"They all headed southwest, just like the first one."

Kim kept looking straight ahead as she walked, her mind staying on track with the multiple streams of thought racing through it. So much for her hopes to catch a stray bogie...

"Understood, Mr. Draper.", she replied edgily, "What about the satellite uplinks? They pick up anything?"

"Done. But there was no infrared, no UV spectral emission, no computer guided differential analysis results that showed any suspicious movement patterns in the area."

Kim growled her aggravation under her breath, "Blast! That_ is_ some stealth craft."

"Amen to that, Commander."

"Okay, keep the birds up. Look for anything that'll give us a lead, They can't have just disappeared like that without leaving some kind of clue."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

"And get the cross-references for the DoD files on their new weaponry and their engines for the Block V Apaches! I could swear that bird had GE-904 sync-turbines."

Draper's eyes slightly widened at that, "You mean those new forty thousand horsepower monsters? Those aren't even out of the testing stage!"

"Yeah, well it looks like our bogie maker has some good connections somewhere."

"Or stole them."

"That's certainly possible too.", replied Kim, "But I'm sure we would have heard about it if that had occurred. The angular plating looks just like the stuff off the F-28 ghost fighter too..."

A predatory grin appeared on her face.

"Hmmmm.", she mused out loud, "Since he's so desperate to talk to me anyway, I want to talk to Senator Fosgate ASAP about that as soon as you can set that up. I don't think he's going to be so upset about my little excursion once I tell there may be a leak in his defense network. And see if the CIA can log in with any info on this. They gotta know something."

"I doubt it if ComIntel doesn't know.", replied the OD.

Kim growled in frustration again, "You're probably right, but check anyway. Has NSA been notified?"

"Aye, aye, Commander."

"Okay, that means the President will be calling sometime soon. Let's get the briefing info together and be ready for him. He's not going to be happy."

"Aye, aye, ma'am", he replied, his tone affirming her opinion on that.

They had reached the BATCC by then and Kim said, "Okay, people. I'm done. Get on with it."

Kim started to walk into the room when she noticed that the entire group had not moved. They remained standing there, staring at her in some anticipation. About that time, a good number of other personnel had stepped out of the BATCC and surrounded her, also waiting. Kim looked around in some consternation wondering what the problem was.

"What?", she queried.

The entire group burst out in applause, cheering and clapping, yelling and whistling their approval as Kim turned all sorts of red in surprise, wondering what it was all about.

Lieutenant Draper stepped up, clapping, "Just wanted to say, ma'am. Damn good show! It's good to see the boss in action again!"

"Right on, Commander!", yelled a nearby sergeant.

"Way to kick butt!"

"Huaah! Commander! Been too long since we've seen good bullneck like that!", said an Air Force officer.

Kim relaxed and grinned, although she was still beet red., "Thanks, guys. It's... ...it's good to be back. Nice to see your Aggie roots there, captain."

"Amen to that, Commander!", the man yelled, whooping it up again as he clapped even harder.

They continued to applaud her for a time until finally she held her hands up and said, "People, I really appreciate it. But we really have got some work to do here quickly. Let's get back to it."

"Understood, Commander.", Draper replied as he came to attention and saluted, followed by everyone around her.

Kim's heart went into her throat then, realizing just how much these people respected her. She looked longingly at all her crew staff that were there, panged by the decision she and Ron had been contemplating lately, and her eyes watered a little as she gazed around at them all.

"Thank you again, people.", she said as dignified as she could, "It's an honor to serve with you all."

She gave them all a short salute and softly said, "Dismissed."

"Aye, aye, Commander.", they said in unison, then they all peeled off after Lieutenant Draper started barking orders.

Kim kept going on towards her office at a brisk pace, her emotions stirred up by the outpouring of support she had just received, but the urgency of finding out whether or not what she had seen on the Sunhawk with Ron and the girls was what truly drove her on. That sense of urgency also was heightened by the fact her family had almost been blasted into nothingness. Not just her, but also her family... ...and that absolutely enraged her.

The old Kimmunicator had a large enough bandwidth to link the data back to Wade, but the wrist unit had to sacrifice that for the sake of its size, and the damage to Dragonrider's com panel limited that even further. Thus it was easier to wait until Kim got back to load the video footage directly. She should have done it the first time, but the bogie report at the Sandidge farm nixed that. She also still had a bunch of administrative things to do, but that definitely was going to wait. She wanted to get a really good look at thing that almost killed her children. Rounding the last corner to the hallway, she saw Ron waiting for her at her door. A concerned look was on his face as he turned and saw her. Glad to see her, he came up and gave her a quick kiss.

"Sorry.", she said, "I got detoured into another ride on the Sunhawk."

"I heard."

"What about Jason and Tara? Wade gave me the four-one-one. Is she really okay? What happened?"

"No fireworks, if that's what you mean.", Ron said, "From what I found out, Jason told Jill everything about himself."

Kim blinked in surprise, "Really? Everything?"

Ron nodded solemnly.

"Including?"

"Yeah, that, too."

"Wow.", said Kim, "I didn't expect that."

"Wade found out that he has a wife and daughter, and the cross-reference put the daughter here at the medical center, being treated by Tara. Talk about coincidence!"

"But the only connection he had was through basketball. How did the rest happen."

"He went under the pseudonym Larry Daniels for all his off-court activities and business. He did a heck of a job keeping people from connecting the two names."

She could believe that. She remembered Wade mentioning that it took a very concentrated effort to break the encryption of the Denver Nuggets' computer system to get all of Jason's data.

"Yeah.", she replied, "But what about-"

Ron finished the thought, "As you can expect, Jill and Tara are pretty shaken up. They're staying in their quarters for now."

"Kevin?"

"He's with them."

"Good.", she said, satisfied with that. She knew Kevin had always been Tara's emotional support.

With a more serious face, she asked, "The girls are okay?"

Ron smirked and laughed, "Hah! They had the time of their lives! Oblivious to how dangerous it was the whole time!"

Kim growled again, angry.

"I _knew_ I shouldn't have let them go!", she complained bitterly.

"Calm down.", he said quickly to settle her, "You know that if they are going to do this, you can't shield them from all the danger. They will have to handle it on their own. And you know we trained them well enough to do it."

"They're only fourteen, Ron!"

"And how old were you when you took out Mr. Paisley's McHenry laser grid?"

"That was different!", she cried.

He scowled at her, riposting, "And exactly how is that?"

Having no good argument, Kim's face grimaced as she glanced away. She looked back at him with those worried eyes of hers and her features relaxed, giving up the argument.

"I was thirteen.", she said in a small voice.

"Uh-huh.", he said, triumphant and smiling.

She griped at him, "But I didn't realize then how dangerous it was! If I knew then what I know now-"

You _still_ would have done it.", he interrupted.

Her lips thinned out in a hard line as she stared hard at him, still angry.

"Stop that!", she groused.

"Stop what?"

"That truth thing!"

Ron chuckled as he pulled her back into a close embrace, "Hey! As few times as I get it right, I have to relish the moments, you know?"

"Riiiiiiiiight.", she said grudgingly as she nestled her head into his shoulder, "Still, that copter had us dead in his sights, lit up like a Christmas tree. We were dead ducks."

"Yeah, I know, honey.", he replied, "But I think the girls actually saved us there."

Kim pulled back and looked at him again, a puzzled expression on her face, "What do you mean? Wait a minute! You figured-"

"-it out. Yeah. I did. You remember how Drakken's grandnephew, Drew, looked right at us at the last?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't catch it right then, but I remember now his look changed right when the twins became visible to him."

The look on her face grew into wonder, "I didn't see that!"

"You were too busy grabbing their chutes and getting everyone else ready to jump before the missiles hit. I could see him react just as the Sunhawk veered around to where he could see the girls."

She blinked, still for a moment, "Are you sure, Ron?"

"You bet, KP."

She shook her head and stared off to one side, "But why?"

Looking grim himself, Ron paused before he said, "I can only think of one reason he did that."

She stared hard at him again, her face clearly showing how little she liked that answer. She took his hand and led him back to her office.

"We better look at this footage.", she said.

She went to her computer console, took off her wrist Kimmunicator, stuck it into a slot next to her keyboard, and began to punch in commands. Almost immediately, Wade popped on screen.

"Hi, Kim. Everything okay?"

"I'm fine, Wade. Listen, I'm uploading the video to you. I only wish the com panel hadn't been shot out on the Sunhawk, or I would have gotten it to you sooner. Check it out for me."

"No big.", Wade said as he peered at his own screen and flew into furious typing. He looked up, squinting a bit, saying, "Okay, I think I got it. Man! That is some bird they got there!"

The screen changed as a blurry, cloud filled sky with snow streams racing across it suddenly appeared. Just above the top of the screen, the tail rotor of the Sunhawk was firmly planted, revealing the rear location of the camera. A massive shape unexpectedly came in from the right. It was such an ugly beast, looking so much like a giant version of the Apache attack helicopters still used by the army, but like it was on steroids. Black, silhouetted in sharp angular patterns, with a dull matte finish, it bristled with antennae like a monster wasp, it's sting housed in the two huge rocket pods on either side of it. The bird righted itself quickly and turned head on into the camera, just as the Sunhawk began to veer away. The audio came alive with warning alarms signaling that the monster achieved missile lock on them. The camera turned again into the direction of the enemy craft, the Sunhawk's tail shifting in and out of the scene as it tried desperately to get some distance between it and its opponent.

The enemy craft still came in closer. The camera zoomed in to the point that the pilot was visible, clad in red, helmeted and black-visored. Drew appeared behind him through the cockpit door. He stood there watching, smiling as he mouthed the word that gave the order to fire. Despite the sudden abrupt movements of both craft, the camera stayed on track and kept the view of the helicopter's cockpit solidly within its lens with minimal movement. There was the slight flash of light from either side that indicated the firing of the missiles. The tail of the Sunhawk swung away out of sight to the left as the enemy drew around to the Sunhawk's left to where Drew could see the open hatchway. He simply smiled wider and wider until a look of pure shock suddenly came over his face. He yelled at the pilot, then literally knocked him out of his seat and slammed at a control on the dashboard. A flash of light raced across the screen left to right starting from off camera.

After that, it was just as both Kim and Ron had seen from the hatchway. Drew turned and either pushed or struck at something or someone coming through the cockpit door, and turned back and stared straight at them, clearly enraged. He seemed to speak to the camera for a moment, as if talking directly to them, before looking down and apparently barking orders at the pilot. Then he turned quickly again and left the cockpit. The pilot hurriedly got back in his seat and jerked hard on the joystick, the camera view suddenly shifting its viewpoint as the black helicopter speedily pulled away and disappeared within the clouds in seconds.

Kim looked at her husband and said, "You're saying he aborted the missile attack because of only one reason? You're saying it's the Prophecy?"

"Kim, it's the only thing that makes sense."

Her visage stony, she replied, "Then the question I need to answer is how he knows about it in the first place."

"Not that hard, KP.", Ron replied seriously, "You know that. Any serious devotee of any kung fu style would have heard of it."

"Not all of it. Only higher ranked practitioners hear the whole thing."

"True. So?"

"So you're saying he must be one."

Ron shrugged, "or he knows someone who is. I can't say for sure."

Wade appeared on a PIP screen and said, "I can start looking."

"Yeah. We can get in touch with Yori and Hirotaka too, and see if they have any knowledge of this.", added Ron.

"Even so,", said Kim, "it's still too well kept as a secret as to who the Dragon is, or who her daughters are. Only the inner circle of masters would know that."

"Then there's got to be somebody outside the inner circle who knows, or we have a traitor.", replied Wade.

"I don't think it's a traitor, Wade. They know each other way too well for that. It would be too easy for them to expose him.", said Ron, "Nothing in the Time Stream has suggested it either."

"Are you sure, Ron?", Kim asked seriously, "You know you still don't have that good a handle on reading it."

"I know, honey.", Ron sighed, "But I really doubt it. Call it a hunch. Say, Wade. Go ahead and put a call into Yamanuchi for us. Let's see what they got."

"Coming right up.", said Wade as he started punching controls.

The screen flashed and in a few moments, a new face appeared. Her olive toned skin was as smooth and beautiful as it ever was, her glistening straight black hair now a little longer at shoulder length, compared to what it was back when Ron had first met her. As soon as she saw who was on the screen, she smiled easily after a brief bow.

"Ron!", exclaimed Yori, "It is so good to see you once more!"

Ron smiled easily in return as he said, "Hey, Yori! Good to see you, too. How's Hirotaka and the kids?"

"They are fine! Takashi is at university and Tomoe's studies here are going very well.", she gushed.

"Great to hear, Yori!", said Ron, glad that Yori was less formal in greeting them now. It took him ten years to get her to stop using the _san_ honorific every time she talked to him.

"And how are you, Kim?", asked Yori, looking at her.

"I'm great, Yori.", replied Kim, smiling, "Thanks, and the kids are all doing well, too."

"Ah, yes, the girls. I was wondering about them. They are now what? Fourteen, yes?"

"That's right. Why do you ask?"

"Please forgive me if I am mistaken, but I believe this is not purely a social call."

Ron smirked as he shook his head, "You always could read me, Yori. 'Fraid so."

"Ah, but it was not 'reading you', Ron, that led me to suspect you would call me. You see, there have been events."

"Uh-oh.", said Kim warily.

Ron frowned, "Events?"

"Quite so.", said Yori, a serious look on her face, "As you know, your little sister, Hana, has been training with us in preparation for her purpose."

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot that.", said Ron, irritated, " I always thought it was a little ironic that I was entrusted to help raise her because she is the 'Ultimate Weapon' against some great threat, blah, blah, blah, and then it seemed the danger she was supposed to fight was already gone, or something."

"It would appear that was in error. A few months ago, there was an unfortunate occurrence. In a location called the Simian Valley."

"Now _that_ doesn't sound good.", interjected Kim, sullenly.

'Tell me about it.", muttered Ron, his hackles raised.

"In the Simian Valley, "continued Yori, "there is an evil place. It is called the Dark Temple of the Yono. There is an evil entity in that temple that had slumbered there for centuries."

"Had slumbered? As in past tense?"

"Most regrettably so, Ron. It has been awakened and is now gone from there."

Kim growled again, something she realized she had been doing a lot of this evening.

"Great!", she muttered, "So how was it awakened? And what kind of threat is it?"

"There are rumors of a blue-skinned one who came and defeated all defenders of the evil cult that guards the temple now, a cult of evil Tai Shing Pek Kwar."

Kim and Ron looked at each other again for a moment before Ron turned back to Yori.

"Can this get any worse?", he said in exasperation, "So not only does our new arch foe have this new evil entity thingee or whatever, but he knows Monkey Kung Fu, too?"

"I am so sorry, Ron. I am afraid it does get worse, Ron.", replied Yori, "This entity, the Yono, knows the whole Prophecy."

"But so does the inner circle and senior students!", Ron shot back, "It's not that big a secret!"

"True, but through the magic he controls, the Yono also knows who the Dragon is.", added Yori.

"That figures.", said Kim dejectedly.

"There's our answer.", interjected Wade in dejection as he appeared on the screen to make it a three way conversation.

"Oh, so good to see you again, Wade-san." said Yori as she bowed briefly again.

"Good to see you too, Yori. So what does the Yono have to do with all of this?"

"Ever since we have discovered the Yono had been awakened, we knew that Hana's deep purpose as 'The Weapon' would soon be realized. She has been preparing doubly hard for this ever since. Only she can defeat the Yono."

"How?"

"By defeating the one who summoned him in the first place."

"So, if Hana fights and defeats the 'blue skinned' one. By the way, we know who he is."

"Yes. We found out when the Yono was awakened that he is one Drew P. Theodore Lipsky the Third. I believe he is related to your old arch-foe, Dr. Drakken. Is that not so, Kim?"

Kim looked askance at Wade, who colored slightly, "Uh, right. Good intelligence there, Yori."

"I am sorry we did not tell you right away, but at first we were not sure it involved you."

"No big, Yori.", said Kim, "So what changed?"

"When one awakens the Yono, he can gain great power if he makes a pact with him. Once the pact is made, nothing but 'The Weapon' can defeat him. The summoner can then command the Yono to do his bidding, and in return, the summoner pledges his soul to the Yono."

"His soul, huh? Definitely evillish. But why?"

"If for any reason the Yono's purpose is defeated, the summoner must take his place in the temple as a statue of stone, until he himself is summoned and awakened by another. Then he becomes the Yono and wields the evil power of the temple."

"I think I'd pass on that. No escape clause there. ", said Ron.

"Quiet, Ron!", scolded Kim, then she turned back to Yori, "Okay, so we have a new arch-foe strutting around looking for my hide, and just about getting it this time I might add, and he has this all powerful Yono guy."

"Actually, he is a monkey."

"Monkey!", gasped Ron.

"So not the drama, '_O monkey master'_!", Kim carped once more, "Are you having monkey issues again?"

"No, Kim!", said Ron, crossing his arms angrily, "I just don't like seeing them used for evil."

"Whatever.", replied Kim rolling her eyes, "So, Yori, what does this Yono character have to do with me."

Yori's face looked strained and concerned.

"We have learned that the blue skinned one has commanded the Yono to help him destroy the Dragon."

Completely unfazed, Kim nodded nonchalantly, "Yep. Sounds about right. Been there, done that."

Yori remained serious, adding, "You should take him seriously, Kim Possible. We are preparing Hana for the challenge. As I said, she is the only one who can defeat the Yono. But there is one way the Yono can defeat her."

"How is that?"

"If the Yono gains the blood of the Dragon by destroying her first."

"You mean me?"

"Yes.", replied Yori, "I mean you."

* * *

"_Did you see that_! Can you believe what Mom did?", gushed Mim to her older sister. K-J could only shake her head in awe in answer.

The twins were so thunderstruck from what they had just gone through. Their father had made sure they got to their quarters after being checked out in the ED section of the medical center, then marched them to their room. He told them to stay put until he and their mother got back. Since Aunt Shego and her brood were coming in soon, their parents wanted the whole family together to meet them, and Dad especially wanted them ready ASAP. Ron was actually worried they would pitch a fit, but they were so excited by the adventure they just had, they didn't complain one bit about it. As soon as they got to their bedroom, They jumped out of their mission clothes and into the shower, and were now quickly getting dressed. KJ was busy combing her long red hair out as Mim straightened out her blouse and full skirt. She looked over at K-J, who was wearing the exact same thing, and smiled to herself. They had dressed exactly alike again, deciding to once more play their old childhood game of 'which twin was which". When they were younger, they loved to play around, trying to get people to confuse them, which delighted them to no end. Lately, they hadn't played as much as the allure had worn off, but with Aunt Shego... ...Well, they hadn't seen her or her family in eight years now.

'Ha-ha!', she thought naughtily, 'fresh targets!', enjoying the anticipation of the upcoming confusion she and her sister were about to unleash. Their mother tended to frown on it, moreso as they got older as she thought they were too old for it to be that 'cute' anymore. But they so rarely had a chance to play the game these days anyway, and they couldn't resist doing it. Besides they knew their mother was never really that bothered by it.

But even as they went through all their preparations, their minds were still reeling from what they had witnessed. The real Kim Possible, the hero, the master of sixteen styles of kung fu, the Dragon. It only reaffirmed in their minds that this was the greatest experience of their young lives, and it was absolutely fantastic! Not only did they go on a mission, but they saw action they never dreamed of seeing, _real_ action, and watched their mother, _their own mother, _take out a whole host of bad guys without hardly breaking a sweat. Not just a few bad guys! _Twenty five of them_! It was the only thing they could think of and talk about ever since.

"Oh my gosh! I just never realized! It is all so true!", K-J answered her in sheer awe, brushing her hair in long steady strokes, "Mom really _was_ holding back when she trained us! I never believed her when she said that! There were so many times I was so sure I had her!"

"Me, too! And the whole time she was playing us!"

"Well, she always did say she wasn't giving us a hundred percent when she sparred with us, didn't she?. But, it just never seemed like that was true! It just seemed too close a contest so many times!"

K-J mentally went over the fight in the snow again and again, trying to memorize every move, every feint, every strike her mother made against all of those goons. It wasn't just the way she took each opponent out. It was how she _flowed_ from one to the next in that spectacular dance of combat only Kim Possible could manage.

"Oh, I believe her now!", replied Mim seriously as K-J became quiet, deep in thought, "She totally played us! I'm telling you, I'm _never_ going to underestimate her again!"

Suddenly a look of uncertainty came over her face.

"Uhh, you know what?", she said pensively, "Now that we know, do you think we'll ever win a match with her?"

K-J stared at her.

"Duh!", she answered rather explosively with a sour face, "We haven't won one yet! Obviously she's been toying with us, just putting out enough so that she would barely win! Beat her? No way!"

That soured Mim's mood.

"At least, not until she's ninety, huh?", the younger sister added, her eyebrows furrowed.

" And probably not even then! And only as a team!", retorted K-J softly.

"Maybe Aunt Shego can give us some pointers."

K-J's demeanor lightened up some.

"If anybody can, it'll be her! At least she wins sometimes against Mom."

"But only when she gets to use her plasma blasts, right? That's what I remember."

"No, not always. They did practice without the blasts too."

"Did they? Hmmmm.", Mim mumbled unconvinced, "How long has it been since they've done that?"

"I dunno. We were six, I think? I think she got too busy raising the kids with Uncle Eric overseas..."

"...especially Micaela, when she got sick for a while..."

"...and that made it too hard for her to get back..."

"...and practice with Mom, yeah."

"Didn't they put Erik in some hoity toity private school up there in Go City?"

"Oh, yeah!", said Mim, her own eyes lighting up as she remembered, "That and when she finally managed to make Team Go an international operation. That took more of her time, too."

"Boy, it took her long enough to convince her big brother to do it."

"I know! But I think it was Mikey that really kept her from coming more regularly."

"That's right! I remember now.", K-J said as she finished brushing her hair and tossed the brush onto the vanity, "You ready?"

"You bet!", replied Mim as she checked herself in the vanity mirror one last time before turning and following her sister out the door.

K-J piped up again as they left their room and headed for the hangar, "Hey! You know that move she did towards the end? You know, the one where she does the double side kicks to either side to take out two at a time?"

"Yeah! The side split maneuver we use in cheer!"

"Did you see how she changed it just enough to make it work?"

* * *

The girls continued to hash out their analysis of the fight all the way there until they reached the hangar. Their parents and brothers were already there. As K-J and Mim suspected would happen when they came up, Kim was already frowning, looking back and forth between them, then picking one.

"K-J, I thought you two weren't going to play 'dress alike' anymore."

They both laughed, and Mim said, "Got you again, Mom!"

"How do you do that?", Kim growled in resignation, but did it good naturedly and shook her head, "You know? A mother should be able to know the difference between her twin daughters!"

Still laughing, K-J said, "You really can, Mom, unless we work at it."

"She's right, KP.", Ron, chuckling, "They can fool all of us when they try really hard. Who knows? It might come in useful some day."

Kim gave him a questioning look, "You mean like when Mim tried to take K-J's social studies exam for her because she hadn't studied for it?"

"Oh Jeez.", Ron said, blushing slightly as the twins looked appropriately contrite, "Heh, heh. Aside from those, uh, sorts of uses, you know."

"Riiiight.", Kim replied, still shaking her head, looking amusingly displeased with her husband, "I guess it must be the MMP coming through in them."

K-J looked at her puzzled, "Huh? What does Dad's power have to do with it?"

Kim smiled back knowingly, "I meant your inheriting your father's 'mischevious' monkey power."

Not getting it at first, Ron looked at her suspiciously, then the light went on in his eyes, "Huh? Now wait a minute!"

"Did we get any of that?", asked K-J, confused, "I've never been able to do any of that stuff Dad does."

"Just kidding, dear.", Kim replied mirthfully, "Your father has a knack for shall we say 'monkey shines'?"

"Hey, there! Whoa! That's "Mystical" Monkey Power, woman!", Ron said a little indignantly, crossing his arms.

"Uh-huh.", Kim said, still grinning. "You call it what you want. I'll call it what it is."

"Well, I never hear you complaining about it that way when we're by ourselves.", he said a little seductively.

"Ron!", she cried, now the indignant one, "Not in front of the kids!"

Jim laughed, "Aww, come on, Mom. No need to be embarrassed about that."

"I'm not, son", she said smugly, "He's the one I'm trying to keep from embarrassment. I always get worried about what might go wrong when he uses it."

Ron harrumphed, "Now hold on there, KP! If this is about that time my zipper got broken."

Kim started laughing and whispered to him, "Yeah, the one time you _wanted _to lose the pants, and you couldn't do it!"

Ron pouted in mock disapproval, "Just you wait, KP. I'll get you for this."

She continued to laugh as the hangar doors opened up and the screams of a multi-hued jump jet drowned out her response as it hovered in from the outside. The weather was still frightful, but the storm had quieted down almost all the way by now, the gale force winds now down only to gusts and flurries. Sporting the Team Go logo on its side, Kim smiled as she saw Shego at the helm, noting just a bit more grey creeping into that gorgeous black mane of hers. Eric was riding shotgun, and though she couldn't see them, she knew the kids were sure to be in the back.

The jet touched down softly and the engines powered down. Kim and the others started to walk up to it as the rear hatch opened up. A short stairway plopped down and Shego led the way, a big smile on her face. She laughed softly as she came up to Kim and enveloped her in a big hug which was equally returned. Eric followed behind carrying Micaela in his arms, smiling and waving to Ron and the boys. Bringing up the rear was a tall young man with a ready smile and his father's features, but a thick crop of black hair clearly marked him as Shego's son.

"Gosh, it's good to see you, Princess!", Shego exclaimed, grabbing Kim up in a bear hug and swinging her around, "How long has it been since I kicked your butt?"

"Hah!", Kim retorted, laughing as Shego put her back down, "A lot longer than it's been since I've kicked yours!"

"Probably about time I rectified that, I think."

"As if!"

"We'll see!", Shego said smugly, "You're not as young as you used to be."

Kim's eyes went a little wide, "And I don't suppose you're favoring grey hair dye either, huh?"

Shego rolled her eyes and chuckled, "No, you got me there. But, hey! A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do, you know."

"Uh-huh. Usual rules, no blasts. One o'clock tomorrow."

Shego grinned ferally, "Little sister, you are so going down!"

"Yeah, right! That'll be the day!", Kim laughed back.

"However,", Shego said in a gentler tone, "the rest of the time, you got us for Christmas."

"And about time, sis!", Kim gushed, gathering Shego back into her arms

"It's been too long.", she said softly, "I've really missed you."

"Me, too, pumpkin.", Shego replied just as emotionally, "Me, too."

They parted with big smiles and then Shego turned serious for a moment.

"I heard about Jill. I am _so_ glad she's safe. Are Tara and Kevin okay?"

Kim smiled and said, "They're good. Jill suffered some overexposure and hypothermia, but there's no permanent damage. She's recovering well, and they should be able to take her home soon."

"And the man who rescued her?"

Kim looked at her with an awed expression to emphasize her point, "Now _that_ is a story I'll have to tell you later."

"A real epic, huh? Okay, I'll hold you to that. But I still wish you had called earlier. I could have helped."

"Maybe, Shego. But by the time you got here with your crews, it would have been over one way or the other. Besides, I had all the sectors covered as good as they could be."

"That's not what I was talking about!"

"Huh?"

"You took out twenty-five bad guys? And you didn't even wait for me to have some of the fun too?"

"Hey! How was I supposed to know they were there?", Kim said in exasperation.

Shego just laughed, "Well next time, save me a few!"

"I sure will!", Kim said, grinning.

"Listen, I was talking to Wade. Did I hear right? Drakken's grandnephew was behind it all?"

Kim turned grim at that, "Yeah. At some point while you're here, we really need to talk about that. I need your input."

"Uh-huh. Like I said, I don't know how much I can help. I never met any of the family except his mother and his cousin."

She shivered slightly in disgust.

"Ol' squirrel head?", Kim asked, guessing correctly that Shego was thinking about Motor Ed.

"Ewww, yeah.", replied Shego, "I still remember how that guy just could not take a hint."

Kim snickered, "Yeah , he sure had a one track mind."

"It wasn't his mind I was worried about.", Shego said out of the side of her mouth.

Kim laughed, replying, "Well, we'll trade notes later. I could still use your help on this."

"You got it, Kimmie, anytime.", Shego said with a grin, putting her hand on Kim's shoulder.

They turned to see Ron and Eric shaking hands and clapping each other on the back while Ron praised Micaela on how much stronger and healthier she looked. The kids were there too, exchanging greetings with them. Kim remembered how Micaela had looked in years before when she was sick, but now she looked as healthy as any ten year old should, and had grown well into it.

"She looks good, Shego. Really good.", Kim said contentedly.

"I know.", Shego replied, gazing at her daughter with a love Kim had thought at one time could have never have happened, "And I thank Tara completely for that. The leukemia's been in remission now for six years. She's done great."

Then Kim got her first really good look at Erik. His father had remembered him to Ron and they were shaking hands.

Kim gasped, "My gosh, Shego. It's been so long since I saw him last. He's so beautiful!"

Shego leaned over and whispered snarkily in her ear, "Tell me about it! Eric and I have had to beat the girls off just about every day with a stick! Two sticks actually."

"What? Your plasma blasts aren't enough to cow them?"

"Are you kidding?", she said in frustration, "That boy is worse than Adonis! They come at him like moths to the flame. They'd ignore hellfire and bullets just to get to him! But it's just as well because he's as oblivious to it as can be."

"Huh? You mean he doesn't see it? Don't tell me he's that clueless!"

"No, no! He's really sharp. Got a good head on his shoulders. Gets it from his Dad, really. What I mean is he's not the kind of boy to play the field like that. Not his style."

"Also like his father, huh?"

Shego laughed, "Got that right, little sis! The man taught his son well."

About that time, Eric and their son came up, big smiles on their faces, followed by Ron and the others. Eric put Micaela down and Kim kneeled down and gathered the girl into her arms, cooing a greeting to her.

"Hey, Mikey! You remember your Aunt Kim, don't you?"

The girl looked at her bashfully and nodded her head with a little smile. Kim laughed.

"Well, it won't be long until Christmas. I think we got some Christmas presents for you!"

She broke out into a bigger smile and her face became more animated with excitement. Shego chuckled and picked her back up, settling her into her arms.

"Now don't go spoiling her! She's got a boatload of stuff back home waiting for her there too.", she said smugly.

"_Oh nothing's too good for my Mikey! Isn't that right_!", Kim replied child-like to the girl, tweaking her nose, who started to laugh, then turned and hugged her mother.

Kim turned to Shego and asked, "Still some anxiety issues?"

Shego smiled, bouncing her daughter on her hip, "It's a lot better. It'll work itself out."

Kim nodded and turned back to Eric, greeting him with a hug and a smile and then hugging their son as well.

"You look so good, Erik!", she said.

"Thanks, Aunt Kim.", he said, "It's good to see you too."

"So, you remember the kids."

He turned and looked at them, smiling,"Of course."

Shego looked at the girls and said, "I know it's been eight years. Kimmie, but wow! It's just incredible how much they've grown. Oh my gosh, you guys! Yeah, Kimmie, you sure cloned yourself in those two, didn't you? Now this is K-J right?"

Erik piped up and said, "Oh no, Mom. That one's K-J. That one's Mim."

K-J blinked and stared at him, as did Kim and Shego. Mim gazed at him, as she had been ever since he had gotten off the plane.

"How did you know that?", asked Kim, "Even I and Ron have trouble telling them apart sometimes."

The young man shrugged, "I always could tell them apart."

"Son, you haven't seen them for eight years.", said Shego.

"I know, Mom. But even then I could do it. I mean, we always played together back then before, and I could tell."

Chuckling, Shego rolled her eyes and looked at Kim, "Huh! Beats me, Kimmie. I always had trouble telling them apart too. But, hey! Let's get out of this cold weather and get something to eat! I'm starved."

Everyone clamored in agreement and the boys led the way back to where a sumptuous dinner had been prepared for the reunion. Shego, still carrying Mikey, struck up a conversation with Jim while her husband talked with Tim and K-J. Kim and Ron brought up the rear. Just in front of them, Erik And Mim walked side by side, murmuring to each other and reminiscing about their childhood days. Kim was noticing the way the way they were doing it, like two old friends who had not seen one another in such a long time. But also, she could see they couldn't take their eyes off each other. A memory struck her then. She remembered one time when little Erik was playing 'horsey' with her, letting her ride on his back as he went on all fours. He was laughing the whole time because she had such trouble staying on him.'Yeah, like old friends. That's true enough in a way', she thought, "Even though they were just ten and six at the time.'

"Ron.", she said.

"Yeah, KP."

"I just had a weird thought."

He stopped a minute and looked at her, saying, "Now wait a minute, KP. Every time you have one of those thoughts..."

"No, it's nothing bad. It's just... ...it's..."

"It's what, KP?"

She watched the kids walk away, then looked back at Ron, smiling.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Really? You sure?"

"Yeah, really. No big. Come on, let's eat."

"You don't have to tell me twice.", he added happily.

That brought a smile to Kim's lips, and she took hold of Ron's arm as they followed behind the others towards their private quarters and the feast that awaited them. Yet all that time, the image of a blond, long haired woman with the fire of green plasma in her hands filled her mind, and she wondered.

* * *

**The next chapter will come out in a couple of days. It will come back to Tara and Jill.**


	12. Forgiveness and Love

**Author's note: This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but it ties off and completes a story arc. It starts the lead up to the final three chapters afterwards**

**Forgiveness and Love**

The bedroom was dimly lit where Tara sat on the edge of her bed, mildly shivering in her nightgown. Kevin remained fast asleep next to her. True to his word, he made her change into her sleep wear and laid her down in bed and snuggled up behind, wrapping his arms around her and holding her there until she fell into a deep and restful slumber. She did feel better. It was late into the night when she awoke, his arms still around her. The alarm clocked showed it was only a couple of hours until dawn. Gently, she disengaged herself from Kevin's embrace and sat up, looking out through the window view screen at the fleeting snow flurries that signaled the dying gasps of the super storm that had nearly claimed her daughter's life. Actually, it was a plasma screen that had a camera linked from the outside into one of its channels. But it made it seem their underground quarters were above ground. It was very realistic...

She became troubled again as the memories swiftly returned, and the conflict that she had avoided for a lifetime resurfaced, refusing to leave. For so long she had thought the battle within her would simply wither away and die unresolved at the end of her life, a wish she had so deeply ingrained into her sub-consciousness that it remained invisible. Unfortunately, it now reared its ugly head far too high to ever be put down again.

She stared out at the storm, unmoving, thinking again of the older man who saved Jill, remembering the younger one who had attacked her so long ago, trying to see them as the same person and reconcile the changes he had gone through in between, trying to understand how she had lied to herself all of these years. She understood now that it wasn't Jason who was to blame now. She could see now that she had never got past the real reason, her own rage. Surprisingly, she found it hard to even remember that horrible night now, so deep had she buried the memory of it. But even though it hurt, she was recalling the details as best as she could. She did it because she needed to understand better. She had to.

"Mom?"

Startled, Tara looked up and saw Jill at the doorway of her bedroom. She was still in her hospital gown and the tie-pants they also use, felt slippers on her feet. She had her dressing robe on over it, to keep her warm. There were bandages on her hands and her head, but she seemed to be walking okay. Even so, she was holding on to the door jamb to steady herself.

Concerned, Tara got up, and said softly so as not to wake Kevin, "Jill! You shouldn't be out of bed! You're too weak!"

Jill let go of the door jamb and walked tentatively over to her mother, grabbing her hands. Tara sat back down again on the edge of the bed, guiding Jill as she slowly sank onto the mattress beside her, her eyes betraying concern more for her mother than for herself.

"I'm okay, Mom. Really, I'm okay. I've been walking a bit now. I'm know I'm still a little wobbly, but I think I can do it good enough. I needed to see you. I needed to see how you were doing."

Her face lost its composure as she reached out to hold her, "Mom! I'm so worried about you! I didn't know. I... ...I'm so sorry this happened to you!"

She started to tear up again as Tara shushed and quieted her, hugging her gently as she briefly looked back at Kevin. She silently thanked the heavens that the man could sleep through the cannons of Tchaikovsky's_ 1812 Overture_.

"I'm fine, honey, really. This has been a one unbelievable shock I never expected. I can tell you that, but I'm okay."

Jill pulled back, her anguished eyes holding Tara's gaze, and asked, "Mom, why didn't you tell me?"

Jill's eyes were not exactly accusing, but Tara could tell she felt a little hurt because she had not known about this traumatic episode in her mother's life, that Tara had chosen not to tell her. She could only stare and blink back at her daughter, a look of regret filling her face. She earnestly searched her thoughts for an excuse, and simply could not find a good one. Failing that, she looked down and grimaced, screwing up her courage before facing Jill again.

"I am _so_ sorry, Jill.", she said, her eyes tearing up, "I should have told you. I should have. As to why, I have asked myself that question a million times, really. I never found a good answer. At first, of course, I was off the hook for a while. You were too young to understand, but then I had to think about how old you should be before I felt you were old enough to understand.

"About two or three years ago, I finally decided that I would tell you when you turned fifteen. But then you did turn fifteen and... ...I just couldn't do it. Jill. Believe me, I really wanted to, because I wanted to warn you that there were some boys, some men, who could be that dangerous, could be so violent. But I just couldn't make myself do it. It was so hard to have to remember."

Tara started to cry a little and tried to hold it back, wiping the tears away. Jill, troubled at how much this really disturbed her mother, reached out to her again.

"Please, Mom, don't.", Jill said, holding on to her again, trying to comfort her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. Really, I don't mind that you didn't tell me. I know it was too hard."

"No, it's all right.", Tara, replied, regaining control through her sniffling, "I still should have done it."

"No, Mom. You didn't. It's okay. Everything has turned out okay. I'm fine. You're fine. Dad and James are fine. We're all fine. Even Lar-Mr. Morgan's alive and fine. He's going to recover."

Tara looked deep into her eyes and smiled wryly, "And now you know all about it. I don't have to worry about telling you anymore."

Jill nodded and halfway smiled in return, her face still wrenched with anxiety, but her face changed when a question crossed her miind, and she looked at her mother very seriously.

"Mom? Do you still... ...hate him?"

Tara said nothing for a long time, just holding onto her arms as she stared out into space, not looking at anything in particular as she wrestled with her thoughts.

"No, honey. I don't hate him, not now.", she replied evenly, "I really thought I had gotten over that, way back then. That was in the spring of my senior year in high school, and then through the following summer, then college, and it was so fresh in my thoughts at the time. Believe me, you don't know how much I still thank God every day that your father was there beside me every step of the way. I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't been. When we went away to college, I was somehow able to put it out of mind. Somewhere in there, I think after your father and I got married that following spring, I thought I did stop hating him... ...I thought I had."

Jill closed her eyes as she rested her head back on her mother's shoulders.

"So is that it, Mom?", she asked, "Do you think you can't deal with it?"

Tara pulled back again and shook her head briefly, wiping her tears away again, "No, it's not that, honey. It's just that I had thought I had forgiven him, had put it all in the past. But seeing him like that brought it all crashing back down on me. The anger, the rage at what he did to me, what he did to your father..."

"But he was right, wasn't he? He didn't actually... ...did he?"

Tara shook her head, slowly smiling.

"No, honey, he told the truth about that. He wasn't able to 'do it'. He was truthful about that. Your father did stop him in time."

Her countenance became serious.

"Jill, I do realize he is the man who saved your life. It's so hard to believe that they are both the same man. I know they are. I know. But it is so hard."

"But people can change, Mom. Can't they?", Jill said hopefully, "I mean, yeah, he was kind of a crotchety old guy when he was drunk, but when he got past that, he really was cool. I can't see him as a person who would do something like that to you."

"I guess.", she continued, "It's because I never saw him the way you did back then. It's easier for me to see him only as the man he is now. I don't want to make you mad, Mom, but I really think he's an okay guy. He's been great to me."

Tara looked deep into Jill's eyes again, smiling once more and slowly caressing Jill's disheveled hair, "I know, dear. I know, and it's okay. I don't mind. You're right. He's been a true hero in every sense of the word where you were concerned."

"And I swear, Mom. He never ever touched me. I know it-"

"It's okay, honey. I believe you.", she interrupted firmly, reassuring her, "I believe you. I don't think he has anything further to prove to me. It's just, now I have to do something."

"What's that, Mom?"

"I have to face up to it, honey, to face him. He said he had a debt he owed me he could never repay. I never imagined I would ever owe him as much."

Jill's forehead wrinkled up as she looked at her, whispering the question, "What are you going to do?"

Tara looked down into her lap as she said in a very small voice, "I really have to find a way to forgive him in my heart."

Jill blinked at her, the worried look still on her face.

"Can you?", she asked softly.

Tara swallowed hard, "I'm going to try, honey. I'm really going to try."

"I hope you can.", Jill replied, "I think it would help you more than it would him."

Tara looked at her, initially puzzled, then a smile slowly took over again as she chuckled, "You know, you're too young to be that wise."

Jill smiled, "Well, if I did, I got it from you, you know."

Tara smirked and ruffled her hair some more, still the mess that it was.

"I guess so, honey.", she said, "I guess so."

Jill got a look of wonder in her face, staring back at her mother in consternation.

"Oh, my God, Mom! That's why, isn't it? That's why you never liked Jeff! Oh my God!"

Tara lost her smile as she gently took hold of her daughter's hands again.

"Yes, honey. It wasn't fair."

Jill looked at her strangely, "What do you mean, Mom? You were right all along about him! You were right!"

"Yes, dear.", Tara replied, "But I still prejudged him in the beginning even before I knew anything else about him. All I heard was the words 'basketball star', and all I could think about was how I was going to get you away from him. I didn't know a single thing about him except that, and still it made me hate him, for something he hadn't done."

"He's still a jerk!", Jill said a little vituperatively.

"Yes, well. You saw through him, eventually."

Jill looked at her sadly, and said in a thin voice, "not soon enough, almost not at all."

Tara smiled again as she stroked her shoulder.

"It's all right, honey. It's behind us now."

They sat that way for a while just gazing at each other and smiling, secure in the knowledge each was there for the other.

Jill asked, "What about Melissa, Mom?"

Tara took a deep breath, "God only knows."

Her beeper went off. Instantly Kevin came immediately awake and fumbled around for it.

"Whu? Where is-?", he said as his vision finally cleared and he frowned at his wife and daughter.

"Huh? Jill, what are you doing here? Are you strong enough to be out of bed?"

Tara rolled her eyes, laughing, thinking how an atom bomb really couldn't come close to dragging him out of a deep rest, but how those _so_ discerning ears of his would trigger him completely awake when that beeper went off.

"It's all right, Kevin.", she said, "She's fine. Besides, it's _my_ beeper."

She disengaged herself and reached over to the night table and picked it up, reading the display. She frowned heavily and got up, heading for the closet and her clothes.

"It's Ward Six. It must be Melissa. Something's happening."

"I want to come too, Mom."

"No, Jill.", she replied in no uncertain terms, "This isn't a good time for that, really. If things aren't going well, Sam and Jason need to be alone with her."

"But Mom..."

"Your mother's right.", said Kevin, "Maybe later."

Jill looked a bit annoyed, but deferred and said nothing else.

"Can I do anything, Tara?", he asked.

Tara had shucked her nightgown and was now pulling on some scrubs.

"Just stay here with Jill. Hopefully this won't take long."

"Sure thing, honey."

Tara tied off the scrub pants and slipped into some Z-coils and smiled at him.

"Thanks.", she said as she headed for the bathroom. Quickly she brushed her hair and fixed her face. Then she got her keycard and stethoscope and headed out the bedroom and through the door to their quarters. She draped the scope around her neck as she walked swiftly down to Ward Six and made it there in less than two minutes.

As she rounded the corner, she immediately spied the charge nurse at the nurse's station.

"What is it, Belinda?"

She had a serious look on her face, "I think she's reached the critical point, Doctor."

Tara's face went ashen, "Oh, no. Is she...?"

Belinda smiled, "No, no! The fever's broken. Her temperature is down to a hundred and two. Her BP is up and I've begun to wean her off the pressors. She's turned the corner, I think."

Tara almost fainted from relief, holding her hand to her chest to quiet her heart from beating its way out. Looking at her chart on screen, she could see that it was true. The neosynephrine had been dialed down by more than half. Her BP was improved to a systolic of 120. Her heart rate was now 110 and steady. Checking the real time chemistries, she saw the liver function test values were coming down, as were the kidney function tests, all getting closer to the normal range. Smiling, she took a deep breath and walked quickly over to Melissa's room to check her physically. When she got there, she stopped abruptly and stared.

Jason was there with his daughter. His wheelchair nearby, he had somehow crawled out of it and was kneeling next to her bedside, gently clutching her hand and praying, his head almost touching hers as he looked deeply into her face. He was speaking very softly. Tara couldn't quite hear the words. He held a small chain in his palms bearing a tiny cross draped over his fingers as he held Melissa's small hand. Though his back was to her, she could still see enough of his face to notice the tear stains. She looked down at his feet, bandaged from the frostbite, and they were bleeding again, so badly in fact blood was actually starting to pool around them. Tara knew it had to be exquisitely painful, yet he paid it no attention whatsoever.

Samantha was on the other side of the bed, holding on to Melissa's other hand, just as involved in prayer when she looked up. Quickly, she let go and got up, gazing at Tara and clearly wanting help.

"He won't let me tell anyone about his feet." she said, "They need to be cared for."

"Please, Sam.", Jason said audibly, but not looking up, "I'm fine. Melissa needs me here."

"She doesn't need you passing out from pain and loss of blood, Jason!" she said sternly, "Please let her help you."

Jason only fell back to his praying as Tara stepped up and touched him on the shoulder.

"She's right, Jason.", Tara said quietly, "Your feet need to be attended to. We may be able to save the heels, but not if you keep doing this."

Jason looked up abruptly over his shoulder at her...

"I thought you were the nurse."

"No, just me."

He looked back at Melissa, and resolve filled him again, "I'm okay. I'll be fine."

"Jason, please!", Sam said.

Tara was shocked into complete stillness, abruptly stunned by the words. They were the same words, the same desperate request. Those were the last words she had said to him the night of the attack. It was the way Sam had said it. The way she pleaded was so like the way she had said it twenty four years before. She didn't understand how she could think of that in this situation, but somehow it exploded into her memory. Frightened by the sudden and massive flood of the images she had shut out for so long, she tried vainly to stop it, and felt the terror immediately strike her, Jason's chest crushing her against the tree, his drunken breath all over her face, nauseating her, his body between her legs. As never before, the nightmarish visions and sounds welled up and rolled through her, searing her heart and her soul again, and she fully remembered for the first time in twenty four years the immeasurable pain she had felt back then. She started to breathe hard, panting, and backed away, holding onto one of the IMED poles for support as her legs began to fail her. Sam's face became startled and concerned.

"Tara? Tara, are you okay?"

Alarmed, Jason looked up, just as concerned. Laboriously, he tried to get up, but almost screamed in agony when he tried to bear weight on his feet. Unable to rise, he turned and started to crawl on his knees towards her, but he couldn't move quickly. Tara could see the pain on his face registering as he struggled towards her. Yet he still tried. For some reason she couldn't understand, that was all she could see just then. She saw Jason in severe pain, moving towards her on his knees to help, ignoring his own injuries. Somehow in her mind, from that night, it reminded her of Kevin. She saw Kevin covered in the mud and the dirt, blood running into his eyes, ignoring his own injuries, a look of concern and caring for her that she had cherished to this day. And Jason now was reaching out, and he had that same look... ...that same look.

It couldn't be. They aren't the same people. Kevin and Jason. They aren't the same. Jason was the other, the one who hurt her.

'No.', she thought again, as she was able to shut down the emotion and control it better, 'Not the same Jason either. Someone different.'

The entire attack returned to her consciousness again, unfiltered, raw and agonizing, raging through her mind, threatening to engulf her. Unexpectedly, she felt herself detach, like she was no longer Tara Monroe. Instead, she was someone else, someone floating next to the girl who had screamed in terror as she was almost ravished, drifting beside a third image, the woman who later had always remembered that night afterwards in fear and pain, unable to reconcile herself with it, trying to block it out and forget it, to somehow make it something that was false and nothing more than a bad fiction, and then failing that, suppressing it to the point she no longer could really remember it.

Now there was no question as she remembered every exquisitely painful detail, every single moment, every single crucial sight and feeling filling her from top to bottom and washing through her like a winter monsoon, and yet it was not like before.

That detached body, the woman she was inside then, didn't feel it. Instead, she simply watched and marveled as the pain and terror roiled and invaded her body, as it did the other woman and the girl she watched so dispassionately, or so it seemed, and then it all started to drain away into a nothingness, a place of release she hadn't known existed, but realized now had always been there. She just never would willingly see it, until now. The deafening screams of the girl and the wails of the woman gently slid into silence as their images faded into nothingness and disappeared, forever. Somehow, she knew they would not be back. That detached self filled the space left by the two previous inhabitants, reconnecting her soul, her essence, with the body all three had shared, and now belonged only to one.

She looked down and found her hand being grasped by another. Like a huge mitt, Jason's hand covered hers as he looked up from his knees into her face, that deep concern bearing down on her from those teary eyes.

"Tara?"

She gazed at him. A slow, very peaceful smile came over her face. It was gentle, one filled with a serenity she had not felt before, a new calm and tranquility which began to beam steadily from her such that even Jason blinked at her in puzzlement.

"Tara?"

"I'm okay, Jason.", she whispered as she reached out and held on to his hand with both of hers.

She looked down at his feet and spoke up, "But you aren't. I want you back in that wheelchair now. We need to change those bandages."

Jason's look of resolve returned, "No, I need to stay with my daughter. I have to give her the strength she needs to get through this."

"You've done it, Jason. You succeeded. She's going to be okay!", she said forcefully.

Sam and Jason both turned to her with surprised hopeful looks, both shocked to silence.

Tara went on, "I just found out. Her fever's breaking. It's coming down. Her blood pressure is better. Her heart rate is coming down. Her kidneys and liver are working better. I think she's past the worst of it."

Sam nearly swooned as she looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes, the relief flooding through her. Jason looked at her agape and then released himself, falling to the ground on all fours, unable to maintain his efforts at being strong. His resolve melted quickly away as he collapsed. Tara reached over and hit the call button.

"Belinda,", she said, when the nurse answered, "Please come here and help me."

The nurse soon arrived and together they managed to pick Jason up and put him back in his wheelchair. Tara bent down and kneeled at his feet, beginning to undo the bandages on them. She asked Belinda to go get the supplies she needed to redo them. As she took the stained and bloodied gauze off, she could see the demarcation of the chalk white areas of dead tissue on his feet were beginning to form, the areas starting to turn black into dry gangrene and showing where the amputations would have to be done, and she remembered again that it was the price he willingly paid to save Jill. He would require a Symes amputation at the least, taking off the front half of the foot on both sides. Gently she took the saline Belinda brought in and gently washed the blood away, taking care to cleanse the cracks in the tissue he had caused by crawling around as he had done. In time she stopped the bleeding. Then she set to work re-wrapping them with cling gauze. Jason sat still, his hand covering his eyes as silent tears streamed down his face again, a small sob escaping his lips once or twice. Sam sat back down, rocking back and forth in fervent prayer, head bowed, giving thanks for the deliverance of her daughter.

Tara finished the job and looked up at him. He was gazing at her, so full of hope now, so full of love for his child.

"Are you sure?", he asked.

Tara smiled, "I can never be completely sure, Jason. But, I'm pretty confident."

Jason looked down at his hands in his lap and nodded to himself, satisfied. Then he took Tara's hands and held them before him.

"Then I'm sure.", he said softly, "You have these hands that heal now... ...so beautiful. My God, Tara, thank you...thank y—"

Jason was stunned as Tara leaned forward and hugged him. He froze in complete surprise, his hands thrust up in the air. Slowly, he unwound himself, and his arms gradually closed around her and hugged her in return, his eyes closed. They stayed that way a long time until she gently pulled back from him and gathered his hands in hers again and looked at him once more.

"I forgive you.", she whispered, and meant it this time. She slowly got up and walked out of the room as both Sam and he stared in wonder at her retreating form. Then his wife came and embraced him as he cried in relief on her shoulder.

* * *

Tara was crying just as much as she walked back to her quarters, though now they were also tears of relief, and of joy. Jill And Kevin were both right. She needed it more for herself than Jason did. She slipped the keycard into the lock and opened the door, then shut is as silently as she could. As she walked into the bedroom, Kevin came out of the bathroom staring intensely at her.

He said, "Is everything all right?"

She smiled at him through the tears, "Yeah. I think she turned the corner. I think she'll make it."

Kevin's face broke into a joyful grin as he came to her and gave her a long tender hug.

"God, it feels so good when you win one like that.", she said.

"I know, hon.", he said serenely, "I know."

"Where's Jill?", she asked.

"I let her go back to sleep in her own room.", he replied, "Does Jason know?"

"He was there.", she answered, "and I was able to finally face it, to face him."

She let go and told him what had happened. As he listened, a calm expression came over him.

When she finished, he nodded sagely and said, "Thank God. It's finally over."

She looked at him in wonder, shaking her head slightly.

"Yes, I thank God, and I love you so very much."

She kissed him passionately for the millionth time in her life.

* * *

**There is still a great secret for Shego to learn, and the destiny of the Prophecy... ...and there are still the reasons why Drew did not destroy Kim, which may surprise you, though not as much as why the Yono will have the Dragon's blood, one way or another... ...The next chapter will be up in one or two days.**


	13. Dragons and Sisters

**Author's Note: The Prophecy comes to bear on our heroes. There is a destiny for all, and it is now Shego's turn to understand her part as well. There is also Drew's part, and there is new knowledge revealed here about his actions. Answers that may raise even more questions that will have to be answered later.**

**Dragons and Sisters**

Breathing hard, Kim plopped down on the mat against the far wall in the gymnasium, totally wasted. Sweat covered her entire body, soaking her exercise uniform thoroughly. She hadn't worked out this hard in way too long, not even when she took out the goons at the Sandidge farm. The only consolation was that Shego, propped up beside her and almost wheezing, didn't look any better than she did. It also didn't helped that they had eaten so well the night before on Christmas Eve, and they were both thinking to themselves, "I should not have done that!'

Not that this was apparent to anyone else in the gymnasium, or in the observation gallery. To everyone else there, they had just witnessed a display of martial prowess by two women rarely ever seen in the world, and now looked for all the world to simply be relaxing and conversing, getting ready to open a whole new can of freak on each other in another few minutes, or anybody else that dared challenge them.

"Dammit, Kimmy!" Shego rasped, "We're getting too old to do this crap!"

"Tell me about it!", Kim croaked back at her, "I am _sooo_ going to hurt in the morning!"

"Morning! Hell!", Shego panted on, "I'm going to hurt the whole day after!"

"Shego, you're over fifty! What did you expect?"

"So what? The big five-oh is the magic number to suddenly crumble on your fighting skills and stamina? At forty three you're sucking air as bad as I am, you know!"

"Forty two! Thank you very much!", Kim corrected her as she leaned her head back against the wall, still trying to get the words out between breaths.

"Whatever, Princess.", Shego sighed, "Still doesn't change the basic facts of life, you know."

"I know, Shego, I know.", Kim groaned in resignation, "It never seem to bother Nana somehow."

"Sure it did.", Shego replied, getting a swallow of Gatorade between her ragged respirations, "She just hid it a lot better than you."

Kim turned her head and stared, "She did, huh?"

"Oh, yeah.", Shego said, "She was special, that lady was."

Kim smiled, laying her head back against the wall, "Yeah, she was, wasn't she?"

She looked up at the observation gallery and saw it was still filled from front to back. It had been a special event for some time now to see the 'great' Kim Possible take on her former arch-enemy in a sparring match. When word got out it was happening, people didn't want to miss it for anything, the most adamant being those twin clones of hers front and center, their faces frozen in pure awe at what they had just seen. Shego saw her looking up at the gallery.

"Guess everyone up there thinks they'll learn a thing or two from us by watching, huh?", she said

Kim was considering that, and snorted a laugh. She kept looking upwards at K-J and Mim, "I guess. That's what those two are there for then, right?"

Shego looked up briefly and chuckled, "Yeah, Princess. You have two new contenders for the crown for sure in them. I've watched them work out too. They were so eager to try whatever new moves they saw you do out there in that fight, and, they're not half bad either."

Kim looked at her, surprised, "You watched them? When was that?"

"They practiced earlier this morning.", Shego replied, smiling, "Boy, they were so pumped up after watching you take out those bums. You better watch out!"

"I know, Sis.", she said with a smirk, "After all, Ron and I trained them."

Shego laughed softly, "Oh, I'm very aware of that, believe me! They're almost as good as you were when you were that young."

Kim smiled at her, "Almost?"

Shego looked at her like she was crazy.

"Come on, Kimmie!", she exclaimed good naturedly, "Nobody knows your fighting style better than me. And I'm the only one who ever beat you, sometimes."

Kim barked a short laugh at that and looked up at the twins again, "Yeah, got me there, Sis, got me there. You know, they're going to ask you for all the tricks I have. They'll want to know all my fighting secrets."

"Hah!", Shego snorted, "Like I'm going to tell them? Let the little freshmen learn for themselves! That's what I had to do!"

They both laughed easily.

"Thanks!", Kim replied, "That ought to hold them off me for about five or ten years, before I _really_ have to push as hard as I can to stay on top."

"That's what I thought, too. But by then, you can give them this whole Team Possible business, and we can both retire and go off and sunbathe on the Riviera!"

"French, right?"

"Oh, yeah. The effects of that toxic spill of 2013 are all cleaned up by now, for sure. Trust me."

"And Team Go?"

Shego reached down and took another swig of Gatorade before answering, "You haven't met Hego's oldest, have you? She's got every bit of his strength and, _thank God!, _her mother's brains. I've been grooming her for the last three years now."

"Really?", Kim said, looking at Shego in a new way, "I didn't realize you were already thinking down that road."

"And you haven't?", Shego asked pointedly.

Kim caught herself and realized she really hadn't.

"No, not until just recently. But I know I should."

"Exactly, Sis!", Shego replied, "The sooner, the better."

"Yeah.', Kim sighed, seeing the wisdom of that, looking back up at the twins, "You're right."

And she did think about that. She had been able to feel time catching up to her body for some time now. Granted, she was probably the healthiest, strongest forty-two year old she knew, and Ron was just as golden in that department, but she could remember how easy it was for them to recover from a strenuous mission or workout when they were teenagers, like it was nothing. Nowadays, it was a good recovery when they were able to work the kinks out and sooth the aching muscles in less than forty eight hours. It was one of the reasons she had let the operatives do more and more of the dirty work over the last five years, though mostly it was the government proscribing her from unnecessarily risking herself.

"Nana had some great meditative techniques for the soreness.", Shego added, somehow guessing what she was thinking.

"Yeah, I recall.", Kim replied, getting her breath, remembering how Nana would often train them together after she had reformed, "I have to start using them more."

"Good. So...", Shego said, her demeanor telling Kim she was changing the subject, "What about Dr. 'D'?"

Kim eyed her momentarily then sank back against the mat. People were able to tell now the match was done, and were quietly leaving to go back to thier jobs. The gymnasium had just about cleared out, nobody within earshot. Kim quieted her speech down a notch anyway.

"What do you really know about his family, Sis?"

"His family.", she said frowning, "Well, like I said, I only met Mama Lipsky and Cousin Eddie. You know that. Drew never talked about anybody else."

Her attention drifted away, her eyes taking on a slightly glazed look. Frowning, Kim studied her, trying to figure out what was going through her mind.

"What is it, Shego?"

She didn't answer right away.

"It's just I remember being up in their attic with him that one time. He was looking for something. I can't remember what, but I was kind of just poking around and saw some pictures in a box. I remember wondering what they were doing there because they were, like, family photos, you know.

"Anyway, there was this one picture of Mama Lipsky when she was a lot younger. Drew was in the picture. He was about, oh, ten or eleven I'd say, but there was a younger child, a girl, about five years old. I never told him I saw that."

"A sister?", asked Kim.

Shego pouted inquisitively to herself, "Yeah, that would be my guess. I never saw any other pictures of her anywhere else. But I really wasn't that interested anyway at the time. Funny. I never thought about it again until you asked."

Kim scratched her head absentmindedly.

"Well, it seems it's a good place to start. I wonder if Eddie knew her. He's still in Danamora."

"Well, Eddie was more of a second cousin I think. It might be his mother."

"Really?"

Shego shrugged and smiled, "As good a guess as any to me, Pumpkin."

"Golden. I'll get Wade on it."

"You think Eddie would even talk to you about it?"

"Maybe. If I offer him a chance to work on a three twenty seven Chevy short block or something similar."

They laughed out loud.

"And I thought you had no interest in 'car parts!'" said Shego drolly.

"Only because you drummed it into me when I asked you to teach me to fly.", Kim muttered snarkily out of the side of her mouth, making Shego laugh some more.

"But even if it pans out,", Shego continued with a grin, "What about this so called grandnephew? What do you know about him?"

Kim shook her head ruefully.

"Very little.", she said sadly, "But he seems to know a lot about us, especially the Proph—"

Kim caught herself, realizing what she had almost done. It wasn't that Shego shouldn't know. Heck, she deserved to know. She really was her sister now in all but blood. But she hadn't been told about the Prophecy, because that was the decision of the Council of Masters all those years ago. She was not supposed to know because it was knowledge that simply was not given out to anyone outside the Council except on a need to know basis. Nana had explained as much, and as badly as Kim had always wanted to tell Shego, and had argued for it sometimes, Nana always and calmly said 'no'. Frustrated, Kim felt obligated to the duty she bore to the Prophecy, and so she kept silent.

But now she remembered Mim and Erik's reaction to each other, and she couldn't escape the feeling that maybe it was time Shego knew about it, because just as suddenly, she might just get sucked in and unwittingly become part of it with those two, and Nana did say she would know exactly when Shego was supposed to know.

'But then,' she thought, 'she really has been part of it all along, hasn't she?'

Shego frowned at her and asked, "Wha-? Especially the what, Kimmie?"

Her thoughts interrupted, Kim looked at her with trepidation, knowing her sister was really going to be cranked at not being told before, but she was sure it was now time, and made up her mind to do it.

"Sis, let's get cleaned up.", she answered, "We both stink to high heaven, and this is going to take awhile to explain. There's something I have to tell you. Something I've known since we were enemies."

Shego stared hard at her.

"You keeping secrets from me, sis?", she said in a hard voice.

"I'm sorry, Shego.", Kim said contritely, "But it had to be done. Believe me, I would have told you if I thought I had that choice."

"And now something has changed, so that you can tell me."

"I think so, yes."

Shego continued to glower at her for several moments, then got up and held out her hand to Kim.

"Come on.", she said, "Let's get showered and get something to eat. Then you can tell me all about it."

"You're not mad?"

"I'll let you know after you tell me, or maybe the next time we spar."

* * *

"How could you let her go like that?", Drakken screamed at his grandnephew, "You had her! She was completely helpless! You were one little press of a button from achieving your destiny! _What is wrong with you_?"

He was pacing all up and down Drew's meditation quarters at the lair. It had taken them eight and a half hours to get back, and his mood had only become more foul with each passing minute. After they landed, he followed Drew to the meditation room, muttering to himself, and continued to mouth unintelligibly as the boy passively resumed his meditation, the Yono quietly waiting in the corner and saying nothing as Drakken proceeded to rant yet again.

"Would you mind explaining to me what was going on in that cockamamie mind of yours that made you abort the missile strike and blow them up prematurely?", he shouted.

"Simple, great uncle.", Drew finally replied in a soft voice, "Pro-"

"I don't want to hear any of that!", yelled Drakken, "You and I had this planned to the minutest detail! You knew exactly when and where she would be looking for the girl! And what about your friend's agent! The one you used to lure the girl into the trap in the first place!"

"Agents, Great Uncle, agents, plural. The pack leader had them under observation the entire time."

"Whatever!"

"Great Uncle.", Drew said calmly, "The wolves which the Yono controlled did exactly as they were supposed to do. Despite their unexpected demise, they still herded the man and the girl exactly where we wanted them to go, no matter that they got themselves killed."

"_And you still didn't finish the job!", _Drakken screamed.

Drew tsked to himself for a few moments, "Because, Great Uncle, it was Prophecy."

Drakken stared at him agog for a five full seconds before responding in another loud burst of noise, "And what does this _ridiculous_ 'Prophecy' have to do with any of that?"

Drew serenely inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out as he unwound from his lotus position and stood up. He faced his great uncle with calm, holding his hands clasped behind his back.

"Her daughters were on the plane.", he said quietly, "While Kim Possible herself is expendable, they are not. They have not yet done their part to fulfill the Prophecy."

Drakken stared at him like he was crazy, then became as angry as his grandnephew had ever seen him.

"Now you listen here, Drewbie!", Drakken raged, "It's high time you stopped paying any attention to this stupid 'Prophecy' garbage! You missed your chance to take out Kim Possible and now you've lost the element of surprise! And for what? because her daughters were there? Don't you see you lost a golden opportunity here? By now she obviously knows a lot more about you! She'll be ready for you the next time you attack! And _I_ am going to plan the operation this time! No more of this monkey mumbo jumbo business! Do you hear me! _No more_!"

A wrenched and angry look came out the old man's face as the seventeen year old looked back without any expression at first. Then slowly, his eyebrows hardened and narrowed, his mouth drew tight in a thin grimace, his nostrils flared, and the young's man's face exploded into sheer fury as he moved in a lightning stirke against his great uncle. Grabbing Drakken by the front of his jacket, he picked him up and slammed him hard into the wall just behind him, staring him down, his eyes inches away from his great uncle's face as he twisted the cloth of his tunic and started choking him. Shocked, Drakken's eyes went wide as he gasped, the breath knocked out of him.

"Now, now, Drewbie!", he sputtered, "I'm a reasonable man! We can talk this out! You just need to realize that I know what I am doing."

"No.", hissed Drew, the look of sheer hate and vehemence erupting from his eyes injected more fear into his great uncle's eyes than he had ever felt before.

"No?", gasped Drakken.

"_No! you do not know_!", the boy roared, "_Do you or do you not want to take over the world_?"

Drakken swallowed hard, gurgling slightly.

"Uh, yes?"

"_Then, the only way that will happen will be to defeat the Great Dragon_!", he yelled, deafening Drakken into timidity.

'The great what?"

The... ...Great... ...Dragon.", Drew said in a grating, hissing voice into his great uncle's face, "Kim Possible's granddaughter, through one of those daughters of hers you wanted me to kill!"

"Oh, well.", Drakken said, dissembling, "I mean, all you had to do was tell me. But why not just kill them and be done with it? That way you eliminate any possibility of this Great Dragon girl, uh woman, whatever?"

Drew slowly shook his head in disgust at him, his face still clenched in rage, "Because, 'Great Uncle', the Prophecy will only pick another for the job, one who probably cannot be defeated or corrupted!"

Drakken swallowed hard again, trying to breathe through the choke hold Drew had on him.

"Uh, yes, I see. You can put me down now."

"_No, you don't see, Uncle_!" Drew yelled into his face once more, twisting his hand harder and making his uncle gag even worse, "We must wait! _This_ Great Dragon is the one we must have!"

"Erghhh!", Drakken squeaked with a contrite smile, " Okay! Is that -*_cough*-_ because she can be beaten?"

Drew grinned menacingly at him.

"No.", he exhaled oily, "Corrupted."

Drew slowly lost his smile again, tightening his hold on Drakken's throat even more until his great uncle gagged repeatedly.

"Now, it's about time, 'Great Uncle'", he said derisively, "that you respect my decisions a little bit more from now on. I have assumed the mantle of leadership for the family now. I am the one who will lead us to greatness, to world domination. I am the only one capable of it, am I not?"

Drakken squirmed in his death grip, trying to avoid his eyes, "Nggggh! Err! Hmmmmmm. Well, I guess! Yes! I would have to say..."

"Say it.", Drew hissed again, tightening his choke hold.

"Yarrww! Ngghhh! You... ...are the... ...one!"

"Who...?", prompted Drew.

"Who... ...has the blood,... ...the blood..."

"The blood of the Dragon within him.", Drew finished malevolently, "The only one in this family capable of succeeding. Right?"

Drakken's face started to get even bluer as he struggled to breathe.

"Yes!... ...You... .are...That's why... ...I chose you!...' he gasped out.

"Exactly.", Drew said as he dropped him. Drakken collapsed into a sprawling heap on the floor, choking and sputtering as he regained his breath.

The boy relaxed and became calm once more. His voice became pleasant, yet even more dangerous.

"You need to respect the Prophecy, great uncle.", he said nonchalantly, "If you understood it, you would see it is the path to victory for us. I do see it. So from now on, you will do as I say, understand?"

Holding his throat with one hand, Drakken pushed himself up slowly from the floor and nodded raggedly in assent as he continued to gasp.

"Oh, and there is one more thing.", added Drew, looking at his great uncle with more malevolence than he had ever done before.

Drakken looked up at his grandnephew with terror in his wide eyes as the boy hissed at him.

"Don't _ever_ refer to me as 'Drewbie' again."

* * *

They had gathered for Christmas dinner, another sumptuous feast as grand as the night before. Fortunately, Kim and Shego had worked up the appetite for it. Christmas presents had been handed out all around with great merriment and gusto, punctuated here and there with cheers and exclamations of surprise and joyful laughter. Afterwards, Kim and Ron got into an animated discussion with Shego and Eric as their kids conversed with each other and with Jill and James, as Tara and Kevin had been invited and brought their children. They were busy refreshing some drinks before they returned to their group with Wade and Monique and their three children. Kim was watching the kids closely and noticed that Mim and Erik had spent every minute talking to each other. Even K-J noticed this and was a little off center about it, but she didn't let it get in the way of enjoying herself with the others. Mostly, she relished reliving the account of the rescue with Jill, telling them how she watched her mother do the most amazing things, and then related how she also jumped in and did her own small part in rescuing her conversation partner. Jill didn't mind letting her go on that way. Shego noticed Kim was staring a lot over in Mim's direction...

"What do you think, Princess?", she asked with a beguiling smile, suggesting the pairing by the look in her eyes.

Kim looked up at her and snorted softly, a smirk on her face, "Oh good lord! Mim's too young."

Shego chuckled, "Hey, I know that, but still. It's a match I wouldn't exactly be opposed to, you know."

Kim looked at her with raised eyebrows, "I guess that would make us sort of sisters-in-law, or something, huh?"

They laughed, then Shego answered, "Yeah, but you don't seem to be too worried about it either, even though Mim's only fourteen."

Kim pursed her lips and slowly nodded as she resumed watching Mim and Erik, "Well, yeah."

Shego realized she really was considering it. Her eyebrows furrowed in realization, "Wait a minute. You want this to happen?"

Kim looked back at her, surprised, "Huh? Oh no! uh, not exactly. I mean it's okay with me. In fact, it would be wonderful. It's just..."

A frustrated look came over her. She didn't know how this happened to enter the conversation, especially since it dealt directly with what she was going to tell her, but now.

This was the time. Now it was time to tell her.

She grabbed Shego's hand and said, "Come on."

Kim took her into an adjoining room which was a small office she and Ron often used there in the complex when they had to spend long periods of time away from home.

As she closed the door behind them, Shego said, "I'm getting the feeling this has something to do with whatever it is you hadn't told me."

Kim turned and faced her, looking serious, saying, "Yes, yes it does. Tell me, honestly, Shego. Really honestly. Who's the better fighter, you or me?"

Shego stared at her strangely, replying, "What is this, Pumpkin? Need to feed your ego all of a sudden? This is _so_ not you."

"No, really, Shego.", Kim replied, "Humor me. It's just an honest question. I'm not trying to say anyone's better than anybody else here, just who fights the best."

Shego sighed heavily and answered in a slightly grating voice, "Well, as much as it pains me to say it, as it has for the last quarter century, it still is you."

"Okay, now tell me. Why am I the better fighter?"

Shego gaped at her, confused, wondering where she was going with this.

"I dunno, Kimmie. Maybe because you're the one who _knows sixteen styles of Kung Fu!_", she said loudly in exasperation, "Come on! You know you got all sorts of moves you've pulled on me in the past that I never learned! I mean I know a lot-"

"And that's what I mean, Shego!" Kim interjected, interrupting her, "Of all the opponents I ever fought, you are by far the best, the most dangerous."

Shego grinned and joked, "Thanks, Pumpkin. I appreciate the positive peer review."

Kim's initial look reprimanded her mildly for joking when she was trying to be serious, but she just shook her head and smiled back, saying, "You're welcome. But it's true. In twenty five years, I have never met anyone who came close to approaching your skills, even without your plasma blasts."

"Well, I worked hard for it." Shego replied pointedly and honestly, without hubris, "In the early days of Team Go, Hego made sure we all trained good and rough. Still, to you, it came so naturally."

"So why was it that I was still better?"

Shego snorted impatiently but remain bemused.

"Because you're Kim Possible!", she blurted out at her good-naturedly, "Like I said, it comes to you naturally. God! I've always envied that about you! The moves came to you so easily where as I had to learn them the hard way with sweat and blood! You have to admit it's a bitter pill to swallow when I worked as hard as I have and then get outmatched by some teenaged goody two shoes who pom-pommed her way through a few cheerleader moves and suddenly could blow me away, even in my prime!"

"It shouldn't have happened that way though, should it?"

Shego stopped and looked at her again, the moment poignant from the way Kim seemed to regret her sister was not as good as she was. Her levity now gone, Shego asked, "Kim, what is it? What do you want to tell me?"

Kim took a deep breath as she walked across the room, then turned and faced her old adversary again.

"Shego, what styles did you train under?"

Shego smirked again and snorted, still befuddled, "You know that, Kimmie. Shao-lin, Wu-Shu, a smattering of Hung Gar. Why?"

"So you mastered those styles?"

"Well, sure, after more than thirty years, I better have."

"Exactly! So how did I master, not just learn, but master sixteen forms of Kung Fu by the time I was only sixteen years old? You are one of the best there is, and yet you only made it through three."

"Two and a half, maybe."

"Okay, two and a half at age fifty. Yet I managed sixteen... ...at sixteen."

For a long minute Shego stood there and stared at her, mentally perusing her like a puzzle.

"I think you're trying to tell me you didn't do this all on your own."

Kim nodded cryptically, "That's one way of looking at it."

"Okay.", Shego continued, "So what you're telling me is that you had some sort of help. So what? Whoo hoo. Extra hoo on top. You got trained really well by somebody."

"Not me, Shego.", replied Kim, "Nana."

"Okay, so Nana trained you."

"No, no. I mean Nana was the one who was trained well. I merely inherited all her knowledge and skills, somewhat magically."

Shego blinked twice, not quite comprehending, "So, what you're telling me is that I worked my tail to the bone and sweated like a hog training under my brother's hard nose schedule just to be outdone by some smarmy cheerleader teenager who got her abilities because some old lady waved a magic wand or something and gave you all this stuff?"

Kim's mouth pulled to one side as she rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, 'Uh, not exactly the way I would put it, but you're getting closer."

Shego's face grimaced as she turned and walked over to a wall, crossing her arms in disgust. When she turned back, she looked peeved.

"Great! I work my butt off and still get upstaged! Okay, fine. I can live with that. I understand. But what is so important about this that you need me to understand it in the first place? Do you really need to feel I have to acknowledge you're better or something?"

That made Kim look uncomfortable. She felt Shego was misunderstanding her, as if she really was just trying to prove she was the better fighter for some shallow reason, but Shego sensed that. Her look softened, and Kim soon recognized the understanding look she always got from her 'big sister'.

"Look.", Shego said, "Don't mind me. You know how I get sometimes. I really don't hold it against you. If that's how you got your abilities, then I can't think of a better person to give those powers."

Kim smiled at her, "Thanks, Sis."

Shego went on, "One thing I'll tell you though. I've never liked all that magical stuff in the first place. I've had more than my fill of it ever since the Tempus Simia, uh, you know."

"Yeah, I know.", Kim replied, knowing that Shego was being sensitive to the uneasiness Kim always had about that adventure, "But when you trained in Kung Fu, didn't you ever study their mystical knowledge? You know, the history of the styles, the literature, the poetry, the foretellings, the visions, what would happen in the future and all that?"

Shego rolled her eyes this time, looking truly irritated.

"That old hooey?", she snorted, flapping a hand at her in dismissal, "I had my hands full with the training! It was more than enough. I didn't need to know any of that stuff."

"So you didn't pay any attention to what the old masters said?"

Shego shrugged, "I worked on a need to know basis. If it didn't apply directly to my training, I didn't need to know it. They sure tried hard to get me to learn it though, I'll tell you."

"But after a while.", said Kim, sensing the answer.

"Yeah, they stopped. But only after they learned I wasn't going to stick around to attain their 'grandmaster' status.", she said using air quotes for 'grandmaster', "Didn't need it. Didn't want it. Wasn't necessary."

"I see.', replied Kim, seeing she was right, "So you don't believe in any of their mystical powers or prophecies."

Shego became serious, looking at Kim with eyes deep in thought, "Look, don't get me wrong, Pumpkin. I've seen enough in the world now to know that magical stuff is out there. But I couldn't care less. I just don't want any part of it."

Kim bit her lower lip, then looked up at her adopted big sister and said, "Too late."

Shego stopped dead still. Facing Kim squarely, she put her hands on her hips, looking cranked.

"Okay, Princess, just what did you get me mixed up in now?"

Kim waved her hands at her at her in defense, "Wait, Shego, it wasn't me."

"Okay.', she said, getting angrier by the second, "Who, then?"

"Uh, the old masters?"

"Which ones? I'm going to have a little talk with them!"

"That might be a bit difficult to do."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because they're about two thousand years dead now."

Shego stared at her. Completely frustrated, she exclaimed, "Kimmy! What are you talking about?"

Kim took a deep breath and let it out, speaking slowly, "Do you recall hearing about the Prophecy?... ..._The_... ..._Prophecy_?"

Shego eyes wandered as she tried to remember, then it hit her. She replied, "Okay, yeah. That old thing. There was supposed to be some big great savior who would save the world time and time and time again or something like that. Only the masters and the senior students were allowed to hear it. They recited it as a rhyme or something."

"Yeah.", replied Kim, "Someone who saves the world, right?"

Shego rubbed her chin in deep thought. thinking out loud, "Like you? Yeah, right!. Gee, I don't remember all of it. Wait. I do remember that there's this hero, it was supposed to be some great 'Dragon' or some such nonsense, like dragons can really exist. Of course, I can't really say that now with some of those strange beasts Drakken and DNAmy made, can I? Is that what you're talking about?"

"Yes, except that you got a couple of things wrong there."

"Well, I wasn't exactly paying that much attention, you know."

"I understand, Shego. But you see the 'Dragon' is not a real dragon. It's a person. A hero. Someone who has a responsibility to save the world from destruction."

"Okay, so he's some big wig who... ...wait a minute!", her face became pale with horror, "No, not Hego! It can't be Hego! No Way! Jose! It cannot be true!"

"No, no, no, Shego! Not Hego!" Kim quickly responded, "But you still got it wrong. You see. All of the dragons throughout history, for two thousand plus years now... ...are women."

Shego frowned in confusion.

"Women?", she said, "You mean that-"

Shego's eyes shot open, wide as saucers. She was silent for a full minute.

"You?", she whispered.

Kim's mouth thinned out into a wan smile as she nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly.

"You are the 'Dragon'?

"Err, guilty."

Shego's eyes blinked a couple more times. She turned and walked off to a corner of the room staring aimlessly. She turned to one direction, then another, as she gathered it all in. She turned back to Kim, the look of shock finally settling into her face.

"So that's why.", she muttered, that cranked look filling her eyes again. She stood there for a long time before she spoke again.

"You know, Kimmy, I got a confession to make. I never really fully accepted that you were so able to beat me all by your lonesome. It always did stick in my craw, a little at least."

Kim nodded again.

"I know, Sis. I could always sense it.", she said softly, "Look, if it's any consolation, I didn't ask for this. It kind of got shoved onto me."

"Yeah, that's makes perfect sense. They would do that. But if memory serves, I also remember this from those old geezers. You could have refused it, if I understood it right."

Kim smiled again, "You're right. But can you really see me refusing?"

Shego didn't answer immediately, thinking it through, "No. No way, not you. Definitely not your nature."

"Exactly.", replied Kim, "I couldn't refuse. I couldn't refuse to do what I think I was born to do, not to mention that it was Nana who made sure it happened."

Shego frowned at her, "Nana?"

"Yeah. Nana was the Guardian, the caretaker. It was her responsibility that the next Dragon, me, was properly trained, and ready to assume the obligation.

"But you see, what I'm saying is, if I wasn't the Dragon, I don't think I would have been the best. I think you would have been. But as it is, I am. And it is a responsibility I take seriously."

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here, kiddo.", replied Shego, looking more relaxed, "I'm with you a hundred percent on that. So, now I know how you got to where you are now. Not so sure I would have done that myself, but hey, that's me."

She got a strange questioning look on her face.

"Hey! Then why didn't you tell me? For Pete's sake, I am your sister, you know!"

Kim grimaced, "I know, Shego, I know! I wanted to! I really wanted to! But this was, uh, like you say, on a strictly need to know basis at the time. Nana was very precise about that, and she said you weren't on the list, yet. She told me I would know when to tell you."

Shego stood there, hands still on her hips, tapping her foot, saying, "Yeah, that sounds like her, all right."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay, sis.", she said, relaxing again and crossing her arms, "You're off the hook. It's not really that big a deal, although it sure does explain a lot, I must admit."

"Yeah."

"But why now?", she asked, "Why did you need to tell me now?"

Kim took another deep breath preparing to launch into the next explanation, one that she knew would be a little more disturbing to Shego.

"Sis, do you remember the Prophecy words at all?"

Shego 'harrumphed' to herself and answered, "Come on, Kim! Like I said, I really don't want to know any of that stuff. Don't care. Not interested one bit.

Kim stared at her, waiting.

"But I get the feeling you're about to tell me, huh?"

"Yep.", Kim said matter of factly, "'Fraid so."

"Great.", replied Shego, resigned to it, "If you have to."

Kim began to recite the Prophecy, just as Nana had taught her.

"_Born in the year of the Dragon under the month of the rat, shall come she whose time will ring with the dragon's wars._

_Born in the year of the Dragon at the hour of the monkey, shall come she who shall thwart all evil._

_Born in the year of the Dragon and of the earth shall come she whose soul shall be the monkey and whose friend shall be the rat._

_Born in the year of the Dragon enveloped in fire and full knowledge from birth shall come she of the great Trine, and all three shall save the world._"

"Okay.", said Shego, "That's you."

"Right.", replied Kim, "Now the next part."

"_Born in the year of the Dragon under the month of the monkey, shall come the Chosen One, he who shall inherit the great simian powers._

_Born in the year of the Dragon at the hour of the rat, shall come he who shall enable the dragon in her struggle against evil in the dragon's wars._

_Born in the year of the Dragon and of the earth and a far away land shall come he who is the soul of the dragon and whose friend shall be the rat._

_Born in the year of the Dragon enabled in amber light through love of the dragon shall come he of the great Trine, and all three shall save the world._"

Shego rubbed her chin again with her hand in deep thought as she heard the words.

"Okay, the sidekick. I see that."

Kim kept on going.

"_Born in the year of the Dragon under the month of the rat, shall come the Friend, the one who shall stand by the Chosen One, his comfort in time of need._

_Born in the year of the Dragon at the hour of the rat, shall come the one who through great friendship shall bear up the dragon and the monkey._

_Born in the year of the Dragon and of the earth shall come the one whose heart shall be known as true, the love of his friends their salvation_

_Born in the year of the Dragon emboldened by faith, through steadfast commitment shall come the Friend of the great Trine, and all three shall save the world._"

Shego's eyes went wide, "You mean the rodent? The rodent was in the Prophecy?"

Kim replied, "Well, he sure pulled our fat out of the fire a few times, right? Remember Wisconsin?"

Shego blinked.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Sheesh! He really was one useful little critter, wasn't he? At least when he wasn't trying to bite me.", she muttered afterwards, "Okay, what else?"

"Listen to this.", said Kim.

"_Born in the year of the Monkey under the month of the Dragon, shall come the twins, descended of the Dragon and the bearer of her legacy_

_Born in the year of the Monkey, at the hour of the rat, shall come the twins, mirrors of each other who shall face different quests as they assume the mantle of the Dragon._

_Born in the year of the Dragon, in the month of the Rat shall come the emerald one, descended of the Dragon's enemy to challenge the Monkey and through them, the Dragon._

_Born in the year of the Dragon enabled in emerald power, shall come he to join with the Monkey and the Rat, and all three shall save the world._"

Shego was quiet for a long time with that, but finally spoke.

"Mim and K-J?"

"Yes.", Kim confirmed softly.

"But what about the 'emerald one'? Who's that?"

"We aren't quite sure. It depends on which 'Dragon's enemy' we're talking about."

"So, how are the twins connected to him? Or is it her?"

"We still haven't figured that out. But you see, Shego, neither of the twins will be a Dragon."

Shego gawked at her, really confused.

"So, are you the last one then? If you are, what do the twins have to do with the Prophecy?"

"I'm not the last Dragon, Shego, and neither of them will be the next one. But the next Dragon will indeed be the last one. There's one more verse you need to hear."

"_Born in the year of the Dragon under the month of the dragon, shall come the Great Dragon, she who will inherit all the gifts, who will bear them against the greatest trials. _

_Born in the year of the Dragon, at the hour of the dragon, she shall come, the ultimate defender, to complete the defense of the world, guided by those who came before her._

_Born in the year of the Dragon, and of the earth, she shall defeat the great enemy, in the footsteps of her namesake, and in the counsel of her predecessors._

_Born in the year of the Dragon enabled in full emerald power, she shall come, and with those of her blood they shall all save the world._"

Shego looked at her with trepidation...

"Kimmy.", she said very softly, "I never heard this stanza. I know. I would have remembered."

"That's probably why they never told you, Shego."

"but it sounds like me! How did I get mixed up in all this?"

Kim slowly shook her head.

"It's not you, Shego. It's somebody who has your powers. Someone who is of your blood."

"A relative? There's nobody in my family with my powers."

"Not... ...yet.", Kim replied very softly.

A sledge hammered look took Shego by surprise, her normally green tinted face paling to whiteness. She looked away for a moment, sitting down in a nearby chair and thinking it through. When she had finally digested it, she looked up again and stared straight into Kim's eyes with a determined look.

"Okay.", she said, now daunted, "How do you know this? And who is it?"

Kim came and sat down next to her, holding on to her hands.

"Remember when Ron and I beat Drakken, Monkey Fist, and Killigan that last time?"

"Jeez!", muttered Shego sarcastically, "The freak stooges. How could I forget?"

"Well, Nana was the one who told me about all this. Ron and I went to China to meet her and we ended up going through this ritual for me to become the Dragon."

"Uh-huh. I remember that. I remember putting that message through to you from Nana. What happened?"

"Well, I ended up being tested. The inner circle of masters of the sixteen great styles had to determine if I was ready to assume the burden. To do that, I fought most of the zodiac animals in smoke form."

"Yeeesh!", Shego grated, "More magic."

"I succeeded in defeating ten of them. The other two were my companion animals. After that, Ron and I somehow got magically taken away and transported into some weird other-dimensional space where we met the Great Trine."

"The great what?"

"Uh, never mind. I'll explain that later. Anyway we were shown a lot of things, some of which were future events. And one future event I saw was the woman who is mentioned in the last stanza of the Prophecy."

"The Great Dragon? Okay, so what's your connection to her and this whole dragon thing, whatchamacallit?"

"As I said, I'm only the second to last Dragon. _She's_ going to be the last one. The best I think."

"Uh-huh, and she has my powers?"

"Yeah. Actually, she's going to be even more powerful than you."

"Really? Like how powerful?"

"Remember the last time we fought for real? In the Caribbean?"

Shego was taken aback slightly, "You mean, that much? But without the tumor?"

"Even more than that."

Shego's face went slack, awe rushing through her body at this revelation. She stared numbly at Kim, once her great arch nemesis, now her sister, her closest friend.

"Who is she, Kim?", she whispered.

Shego looked apprehensive, a strain of worry appearing.

"Sis.", Kim said, "She's your granddaughter."

Shego slammed back into her seat with a gasp.

"My granddaughter? Through Erik? So that's what you were-"

The light came on in her brain as all color drained away from her.

"And Mim?"

'I think so.", answered Kim, "The Great Dragon is my granddaughter too."

Shego could barely breathe. She sat there with Kim for a long time thinking it through, trying to get handle on it. Kim held on to her hands as she did, letting her get adjusted to the new knowledge. when she was able to, Shego shook her head in pure frustration, staring back at Kim with a resigned look.

"Kimmy."

"Yes, Shego."

"You know you are my sister in every way that really counts. And I love you dearly. But why is it every time I see you, you have to complicate my life?"

Kim could only assume a sophmoric grin, gazing back at her in pure innocense as she shrugged haplessly.

* * *

**And so the saga continues on. Two chapters to go. The meaning of the Gifts of the Magi will come to bear on all soon. The next chapter will be up in one to two days.**


	14. The Gifts of the Magi

**Author's Note: The Penultimate Chapter, with only the epilogue to follow. As many of you have guessed, the title of the story has to do with the Biblical Magi, but more importantly also with the short story by O. Henry, the title of which I have borrowed here for this chapter. There is a selection here from that story, which is, of course, identified as belonging to that author. This is one of my favorite stories and I always wanted to expand on the concept of the reason for giving at Christmas, as well as giving at any other time of the year. Writing Fan Fic for KP has given me that opportunity, and I hope I have properly expressed those thoughts here with this story.**

**The Gifts of the Magi**

By the time Shego and Kim got back to the party, both Eric and Ron were actively looking for them. They spotted their wives coming through the door from the office, smiling and looking content, and headed for them. In the background, Christmas carols were playing from the stereo and some of the kids were singing along.

"Where'd you two go?", asked Ron.

"Oh, just to have a little girl talk, that's all.", replied Kim,

Shego skewered him with a look and said, "You knew about all this the entire time too, didn't you?"

"Knew about what? Wha-?"

Ron looked at her in surprise, then his eyes got wider as he looked back at Kim.

"You told her?"

Kim shrugged, 'It was time. You know she deserves to know."

"I agree with you. Kim, but Nana said-"

"Nana said not to tell her, ", she interrupted, "until it was the right time. And it is."

"But why now?"

Kim gaped at him.

"Duh!", she said, pointing at the corner where Mim and Erik had isolated themselves, just staring into each other's eyes, "Haven't you noticed?"

Ron stared at the kids, finally understanding, "Oh! Okay, I see now."

He started to frown.

"Wait a minute! Mim's only fourteen! She's too young to be-"

"Shhh!", said Kim, "They'll hear you! And yes, I know exactly how old our daughter is, Ron! And I am certainly not going to push her into this. She and I are going to have some serious talking to do."

"As will my son and I.", added Shego.

"But honestly.", asked Kim, "Can you think of a better match?"

He frowned at her a second then gazed over at Shego, who had a look on her that obviously said, 'You better not say yes'.

"Uh, right.", he said carefully.

"But she's not dating until she's sixteen!", he added with finality, crossing his arms and pouting.

Shego and Kim looked at each with half-closed eyes and muttered together, "Men.", before rolling their eyes in tandem.

Eric was amused, watching the entire exchange, before finally deciding to speak up, "Uh, somebody want to clue me on what's happening here? After all, I did see that thunderbolt strike those two back in the hangar myself."

"It's okay, honey.", said Shego, "I'll tell you all about later."

Out of the side of her mouth, she said to him privately, "And boy, you are not going to believe this."

He looked at her funny, but she just nodded, the inference being she would explain it all to his satisfaction. Eric smiled and nodded back. Ron scratched his head in puzzlement, still pouting.

"We'll see. By the way, you talked to Senator Fosgate?"

Kim nodded pensively, "Yep."

"And?"

"He threatened me with legal action if I ever went back out again on a mission unnecessarily ."

Shego looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"And you let him get away with that?"

Kim looked at her innocently, and said, "Nope!"

Ron looked even more puzzled, "Huh?"

Kim chuckled malevolently.

"First I pinned him down on the possible leak in the defense network after I told him about Drew's little toy. Once I proved to him there had to be people in his departments that were at fault, he shut up pretty quickly about my little escapades."

"Yeah, that was some toy, Kimmy,", said Shego, "Wade showed me the footage. Not even Drakken came up with anything that good, at least by himself."

"Exactly, which really got the Senator worked up. Even he could see the purloined technology in that bird."

"Pur-what, KP?", asked Ron.

"It means 'stolen', honey,", she answered nonchalantly.

"I knew that!", he said.

"Uh-huh.", Kim replied in tacit contradiction, then went on, "Anyway, that scared him enough to let me have all the intel I needed on the new Apache specifications and download it to Wade. Then I told him I quit."

Both Shego and Erik gasped, "What? You quit?"

Kim smiled as Ron's face changed to understanding, a huge smile overtaking him as well.

"Yep.", Kim repeated, "I told him if I couldn't do what I was meant to do with the government, I'd do it without the government. So I activated the escape clause in our contract. I never saw a politician so speechless before in my life!"

She finished by laughing hilariously. Shego and Eric gazed at her in stunned surprise.

"Do you know what that means, Kim?", she asked.

Eric looked at Ron and asked, "What does it mean, actually?"

Kim regained control of herself as Ron answered, "There's a clause in our contract with the government that allows either party to pull out of the association whenever they wish. It was a requirement Kim and I agreed we had to have before we would ever come under the government umbrella in the first place. It allows for the return of both parties to their previous financial situations and ownership and/or lease arrangements. In our case, we'll be pared down to about one fifth of our present size and one fifth of our resources, and it'll cost us big personally to do it, but frankly that's absolutely fine with us. I think the government thought we would never do it because of the costs. They just didn't realize that the money wasn't that importent to us."

"Can't they sue you or something?", Eric added.

"They can try!", blurted Ron, smiling jovially, "But the contracts are ironclad. Our lawyers made sure of it. And the government is not going to want a trial in which sensitive information could possibly get out about their operations."

"So now, we don't have to worry about any more government control or interference." added Kim.

"_Or paperwork_!", they finished together, both laughing.

Shego and Eric joined in the mirth as he slapped Ron's back.

"Now that's sounds like a win-win situation!", he said.

"Exactly!", replied Kim happily, "We'll be back down to just the nuts and bolts of Team Possible, the way it should be."

Shego started grinning and nodding, "Yeah. Good for you, Kimmy. Good for you."

Hearing their mirth, and overhearing the key parts of the conversation, the other couple in the room gravitated to their side of the room to see what they were talking about.

"How will that affect the medical center, Kim?", asked Kevin as he came up with Tara following.

"The medical center was independent of the government contract with Team Possible, Kevin.", replied Ron, "Nothing will change there. It's still primarily supported by Bueno Nacho and private donations."

"And the base installation?", asked Tara.

"We still keep it. That also was always ours to begin with before the contract was made. That was another requirement we demanded before we signed on."

Then a light went on in Ron's head.

"Oh, yeah! Speaking of private donations, there's something you should know, Tara. We recently received one in reference to your project."

"Wait. Before you do that, Ron.", interrupted Tara, "There's something I need to tell you. I've talked this over with Kevin, and, well, I've decided to-"

Tara's beeper went off. Annoyed at the interruption, she picked it up and looked at the number.

Her demeanor changed, looking concerned, "It's Ward Six. Maybe there's a problem. Melissa regained consciousness this morning, but-"

"Here.", said Kim, "Use the Kimmunicator."

She tapped on her wrist unit and soon the face of the charge nurse came on. Seeing Kim on the line, she blinked in surprise.

"Oh!", she said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Possible! I was trying to get hold of Dr. Monroe."

Kim smiled, "It's okay. She's right here with me. I'm just answering the page for her."

"Oh! Thank you. I see.", the nurse replied, "I just wanted to report that Melissa has been extubated."

Tara gasped in joy and came around to where the nurse could see her.

"So soon? That's great! Is she okay, Belinda?", she asked joyfully, "Is she having any pain."

Belinda smiled, "No, Doctor. She's comfortable. I think she's doing well. But her parents are there with her and they're requesting that you come see them if you're able."

Tara looked up at everyone very quickly and saw they had no problem with her leaving the party for this.

"Okay, Belinda.", she said smiling, " I'll be there in a few minutes."

She turned to leave when the nurse spoke up again.

"Uh, Dr. Monroe! Actually the request was for you, your husband, and your daughter to come."

Tara's eyes widened as she looked as Kevin, his eyes blinking in surprise as much as hers.

"Okay."

"Also.", the nurse continued, "They've requested that Ms. Possible and Mr. Stoppable come as well."

Confused, Kim asked, "Me? Did they say why?"

"Only that what they wanted to have you involved as well"

Kim grinned and replied, "Okay, I'm game."

She looked briefly at the children.

"Don't worry about us.", Shego said, catching on, "Eric and I will watch the rest of the kids until you get back."

Kim smiled her thanks back to her. Tara looked around and found Jill, motioning for her to come over. All of them had puzzled looks, wondering what this was all about, except Ron, who kept a benign face and said nothing. Quickly, Kim told Jill where they were going and why. Jill gasped when she heard Melissa was off the ventilator, saying she absolutely wanted to come. The five of them left and traveled back down to the hospital section, taking the elevator up to the floor where Ward Six was located. They soon made it there and were greeted by Belinda, who told them Jason and Sam were waiting for them.

They've been waiting for some time to do this, I think.", the nurse said with a smile.

"Do what?", asked Ron.

Belinda shrugged, "I don't know exactly, but I think it's big."

Kim and Tara looked at each other again, still in the dark. They made their way to Melissa's room. As they entered, Tara saw Jason sitting in a wheelchair next to Melissa's bed, Sam on the other side holding her hand. The little girl was sitting up, propped by some pillows and she looked quickly in Tara's direction, her eyes coming alive as she recognized her.

In a soft squeaky voice, she said, "Hi, Dr. Monroe!"

It almost broke Tara's heart with joy to hear it. She stepped up to the side of the bed, grabbing the little girl's hand in her own.

"Hi, yourself!", she said in a breathless voice, "Are you feeling okay?"

She smiled readily, "Yeah. I'm real tired, and my throat's a little sore, but that's okay. I think I'm actually better."

"Yes. Yes, you are.", said Tara, barely able to keep her emotions of sheer happiness in check, "You're going to be fine."

Then she looked over at Jason with those bright shiny eyes of hers and said, "I wanted you to meet my daddy!"

Tara looked at Jason, his huge grin spreading from ear to ear, then looked back at her. Her heart melted from hearing the joy in the little girl's voice.

"Actually, honey, we've already met. Some time ago.", she replied, "We've gotten to know each other pretty well."

"Oh.", she said, deflated at first. Tara could see she wanted to be the one that introduced them, but she soon perked up again and went on to say proudly, "Okay. So you already know he's the best basketball player in the world."

Jason chuckled quietly at that as Tara said, smiling, "Yes, I do, honey."

"And I promised him I would let you treat me if he would play ball again.", she continued, "He said he wouldn't do it if I was sick, and I know he really wants to. So I said I would get well and that if I did, he had to go back to playing basketball, because that's what he loves to do. Isn't that right, Daddy?"

Quickly, Tara's gaze dropped down to Jason's feet. They had done the amputations that morning, and he was recovering quite well from them. As she suspected, they had saved his heels, so he would be able to at least walk. She looked up at Jason. He gazed at her with a quiet joy, showing he was completely content with the way things had turned out. He turned and spoke to his daughter.

"Baby, we'll talk about that a little later, okay?"

She looked at him with a worried look, "But you promised, Daddy."

"I know I did, sweetheart. But we'll talk later. Okay?"

Melissa continued to look concerned but didn't protest any further. Sam leaned over and whispered in her ear. Jason looked over at Jill and smiled.

"How are you doing, Jill?", he asked.

She nodded and replied, "I'm great. You?"

He nodded, "I'll be fine."

He looked at Kevin and smiled again, "Kevin. It's good to see you again."

Kevin grinned back and nodded as he replied, "Same here, Jason. Same here."

Tara went back to join her family as Jason cleared his throat, cueing them that he was about to speak to all of them as a group.

"I want to thank you all for coming.", he started, "First, both Sam and I want to say how immensely grateful we are to all of you for everything you have done for us in saving our daughter's life. First to you, Tara, especially you, for your genius, for your caring, for the skill you demonstrated."

He looked at her husband then, "And to you, Kevin, for your generosity, for giving me a chance to have my life back."

Kevin ducked his head momentarily as he smiled his appreciation, his cheeks taking on a slight blush of embarrassment as Jason went on.

"And to you, Kim and Ron, for creating this great place, for being who you are, for being 'all that'."

Ron put his arm around Kim's shoulder as they both smiled.

"For some time now, Sam and I have wanted to express our gratitude in a way that really counted. We're not international crime fighters or top notch research scientists, nor really anything else that would really help what you all do here. I'm just a jock who's really been very fortunate in his life."

"You'll always be more than that to me, Jason.", Jill interrupted, her eyes getting a little misty.

Tara looked down as she wrapped her arms around her daughter from behind and looked back at Jason.

"She's right, Jason.", she said serenely, "You are definitely more than just that now."

Jason grinned as he looked down, his cheeks now coloring as much as Kevin's had, before he looked up smiling and said very softly, "Thank you."

He took a deep breath and went on with his rehearsed speech.

"As I was saying, Sam and I aren't any of those things that you all are, but there is something we can do that I think would most certainly help."

"So, Ron, if you'll step up."

Ron came forward as puzzled looks reappeared over the faces of the others. Samantha got up and met him at the foot of the bed, facing them.

"I saw Mr. Stoppa - Ron, a couple of days ago, for the purpose of helping out with Tara's work. We have seen the results she can get, and we strongly feel it needs to be taken out of the experimental stage and put into mainstream medical practice, where it can really help the kids who need it."

She pulled out an envelope and held it out to Ron, then looked at Tara.

"Tara, we know that your latest research project has been held up by the lack of donations. Both Jason and I have pledged to resolve that dilemma, because we are able to do it. It's the one way we can meaningfully repay you for what you have all done for us. You may not know this, but I was independently wealthy before I met Jason, and he, of course, has succeeded in making an even greater fortune than mine. It is only appropriate since it is the right season, but mainly it's for all you've done that we are making this donation to the Bueno Kids foundation for the purpose of furthering your research project."

And with that, She handed the envelope to Ron.

Kevin came up and put his arm around Tara's waist then leaned forward and shook Jason's hand again and thanking him. Tara was almost in tears again.

"Sam.", she said, "I can't tell you how wonderful it is that you've done this. It will certainly help, even though we have a long way to go before we reach our goal. I can only hope that the dream will be realized, at least some day. I won't be the one to see it done."

"No, Tara.", said Ron, smiling, "You don't understand. You can see it done now. It can be a reality."

Tara looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean, Ron?"

Ron looked down at the envelope, then back up, "The check is for one point two billion dollars."

Tara gasped in astonishment, as did Kevin, Kim, and Jill.

"Bueno Kids can get the rest easily. So we have the funds now. We can start tomorrow."

Her hand covering her mouth in shock, Tara's face looked numb, and she was silently crying.

"Oh, my God, Jason.", she said turning and looking at him.

He looked back at her with the peaceful gaze he had, and slowly nodded to her.

"You were meant for this, Tara.", he said, "You deserve to accomplish your life's dream. It was Kevin, and in a way you, too, who gave me the second chance to accomplish my life's goal, in more ways than one, and I've done it, and you saved Melissa's life. Sam and I want to give you the same opportunity."

'Oh my God.", Tara muttered again, her voice trembling.

She turned and embraced her husband out of pure emotion, a somewhat worried look clouding her features. Jill practically squealed in pleasure as she hugged her as well, but noticed the conflict on her mother's face.

Worried, she asked, "What is it, Mom? What's wrong?"

Tara looked up at her briefly, then turned and faced Sam and Jason.

"Oh, God. I can't tell you how stunned and thankful I am by your generosity. This is a gift, a gift beyond compare in what it will mean for all the children this will save. I can promise you that the research project will indeed go on as planned. As Ron said, it can start tomorrow, and you will see the treatments we've pioneered here out in the mainstream medical community years ahead of what it would have been. But just as I was called to come see you, I was about to tell Kim and Ron something, something that Kevin and I have discussed. And this is the time that everyone should hear this. The research will go forward, but it will be going forward without me."

Every face in the room changed into shock as they gasped, blindsided by this news, everyone except Kevin.

Jason, eyes wide with concern, pleaded, "Tara! What are you saying? This research needs you! This is what you've worked your entire professional career towards achieving!"

Kevin came up behind Tara and put his hands on her shoulders in support as Tara took Jill's hand. She looked back at Jason.

"Yes, Jason, you're right. But you see, you risked everything to give me my daughter back, and to get back to your own family. Part of why all this happened in the first place was that my daughter needed me when I couldn't be there for her."

"Mom?", Jill questioned.

"Let her finish, Jill.", said her father.

Tara smiled briefly at her, then looked back to Jason, "It is true I love my work. But right now, my children need me more. Kevin and I already talked it over and I've decided to cut back on my hours at work. I'll be resigning as chief of the internal medicine section as of the first of the year. This also means I am giving up my research, for now. You don't have to worry. My chief collaborator is Dr. Lillian Choe, and she's fully up to speed on everything that needs to be done. She'll take over and make sure everything goes forward as planned and on time. There won't be any delays, and I will still be there for consultation if they need it."

"But Tara!", cried Sam, "You can't quit! Melissa needs you!"

Tara replied, "I'm not quitting my practice altogether, Sam. I will still practice part time and see patients in the clinic. There's no way I'm going to give up Melissa as a patient at this time. But I need to be at home now more, for my children."

Jason and Sam were stunned, taking it all in as Kim came up and hugged Tara tenderly. They looked into each other's eyes and wordlessly came to an understanding.

"I hope you're okay with this, Kim.", she said.

Kim just smiled, "I'm a little taken aback, but yeah, I understand completely. And I support you. You know you're welcome to come back full time, whenever you're ready. We'll be here."

Tara grinned at her and replied, "Thanks, Boss."

Kim chuckled as Tara turned back to Sam. She reached out and embraced her.

She said, "Don't worry. I will still take care of Melissa. This changes nothing where her care is concerned."

Reassured, Sam let go of her, a broad smile and teary eyes showing she understaood.

"Mom.", said Jill, speaking up tentatively, "You don't have to, I mean, is this what you want?"

Tara gazed into her daughter's eyes and nodded, "Yes, this is what I want, darling. You are more important to me than my work, even my research.", and she gathered up in her arms and hugged her too.

Tara held her daughter, kissing her forehead as she did, the look of contentment on her face more fulfilling than Jill had ever been seen. The moment slowed into timelessness as they all thought back on what had just happened. Out of so many crises, so many near tragedies, and yet so many wonderful things had come to pass, miraculously it seemed.

"Well,", said Kevin, "This has certainly been a night of changes."

"You can say that again.", replied Ron, "Who knew?"

"Knew what, Ron?", asked Kim.

"That there would be so much giving."

Kim came up to him, put her arms around him and smiled as she looked up into his face.

"It's Christmas, Ron. This is the time for it. Isn't it?"

"Yeah.", he said with a little smile, "It is. It's just so neat that there's been so much of it."

He stopped then and looked off in the distance, lost in thought.

"And the gifts of the Magi will abound.", he whispered.

Kim looked up again at him and said, "Huh?", a curious look on her face

He smiled and replied, "I'll explain later, honey. There's a story I once read."

"You mean you read a book without the government making you?"

She snickered as he retorted in annoyance, "Okay, so it wasn't a procedure manual they always pushed on me! Go ahead. Make fun of me!"

"I'm sorry!", she said, laughing, "I couldn't resist!"

He smirked and said, "No, it's just the giving here tonight was so huge, so-"

"It's sort of like Tzedekah, isn't it Ron?", said Kevin, as Tara put her arms back around him, "and it's the best kind."

Ron smiled back at him, "Yeah, it is."

"Tzedekah?", asked Sam.

Kevin looked at her, smiling.

"The tradition of Jewish giving.", he answered, "And the most magnanimous type is giving until the world becomes a better place, like what has happened here tonight."

"Except that I was also thinking more of the Christian tradition.", added Ron, "Like when the Magi came and gave their gifts to the Christ child. That was the first example of Christmas giving. That's what started it all."

"Yes", added Jason thoughtfully, "It most certainly is."

Ron looked up at everyone there and saw them all smiling. Tara had Jill in her embrace, Kevin's hands on her shoulders still. Sam had come around to where Jason was sitting and held him in her arms as Melissa snuggled up next to her. Kim was in his arms. He nodded to himself, seeing it was perfect.

"Shalom to all then... ...and Merry Christmas, everyone."

* * *

Shortly after everyone had left the room, Jason and Sam prepared to settle Melissa to rest and go to sleep when there was a light knock on the door. They looked up, surprised to see Jill standing there hesitantly. Jason smiled, pleased to see her again. He turned his wheelchair back around and waved her in.

"Come on in! Come in!", he said.

"Is it all right?", she asked.

"Sure.", he said, "I wanted you to meet Melissa formally anyway."

Turning to her, he said, "Honey, this is Jill. She's Dr. Monroe's daughter."

Jill came forward and sat down on the edge of the bed and took Melissa's hand in hers. She smiled her best smile at the little girl.

"Hello, there.", she said, "I'm really glad to meet you, finally."

"Thanks. Me too.", the girl replied, "So you're the one my Daddy saved, huh?"

Jill chuckled, "Yeah, that would be me. And you're the one my Mom saved."

"She made me better.", Melissa replied lightly, "which is a good thing, because I'm the only one my Daddy and Mommy got."

They all laughed.

"So I guess you don't have a little sister or anything?", asked Jill.

Melissa shook her head, "No, just me. I don't know, though, but I guess it kind of would be nice to have one, I think."

Jill looked at this little girl who had barely survived the last ten days, able to be so casual about that life and death struggle, and it touched her heart so much that she could be so bold and positive at such a time.

Her eyes tearing up, Jill said, "You know, I never had a little sister either. Maybe we could be sisters, ya think?"

Melissa's eyes lit up brightly.

* * *

Kim was sleeping soundly when something moved enough next to her to wake her up. She turned over to find Ron sitting up in bed with the nightlight on, reading a book.

"Ron?", she asked, "What are you doing?"

He looked over at her, "Oh, sorry, KP. I didn't mean to wake you."

She propped herself up beside him and said, "No, it's all right. What are you reading?"

He looked back at the book he was reading and replied, "Listen to this."

"_The magi, as you know, were wise men-wonderfully wise men-who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi."_

Kim nodded, knowing what it was, saying, "I recognize that. That's from the story '_The Gift of the Magi_' by O. Henry."

Ron nodded, "Yeah. I always liked that story. That was what I was thinking about tonight."

Kim scooted over and laid her head on Ron's shoulder, putting her arm through his.

"Uh-huh", she said a little sleepily, "You said something like that in the hospital."

"And the gifts of the Magi will abound.", he answered, "It's like an extension. You see, I was just thinking. Here it was that Melissa, who was exhausted from everything she went through and was ready to give up, decided to try it once more again, and risk all the pain and suffering she went through just to see her daddy do what he enjoyed most. The only reason she did it was to see her father happy again. In the end she succeeded, which would have allowed to Jason to stop worrying about her and go back to playing ball.

"But then, Jason also gave up so much to make sure Jill got back alive, He risked his life and ended up giving up a part of himself to insure that happened, and as a result he lost the capability to play ball again. Then he and Sam gave up the great majority of their money as a gift to make sure that Tara's research would become a reality, so that it would be out there a lot sooner to help other kids like their daughter. And even though that will happen, it won't happen with Tara, because she put a hold on her career to take care of her kids."

"Uh-huh.", Kim said.

Ron continued, "It's sort of like the two people in the story. They got Christmas gifts from each other neither could use, because the other had sacrificed the one precious possession which was meant to be enhanced by the other's gift, but it was the spirit in which they were given that was important. What happened over the last few days was even more than that. In the story, they gave their last possessions to show their love. Here, they gave of their bodies, and risked their lives, not just their possessions, all for the love of their families.

"People were giving of themselves so much all through this, and the more they gave, the more other people gave, and then the more others gave. The giving was so abundant, so abounding. It just seemed like a neat way to describe what happened. The example of the Magi was followed, and just kept getting bigger and bigger."

He got the feeling he was rambling, which brought his attention back to the moment, and he looked at his wife. Far from being bored, she still had her head on his shoulder, completely alert and listening, her green eyes gazing up at him in the low light. He idly thought to himself how much like jewels they really were.

She smiled and said, "You know, that really does make sense in a weird sort of way."

"Yeah.", he said, still gazing at her, "It's just so beautiful, how it happened."

"And the gifts of the Magi will abound.", she repeated softly, "It is a beautiful thought, Ron. It's perfect."

He smiled.

"You know, KP, this is one of the best Christmases we've ever had."

"You're right, Ron.", she said dreamily, "It is. Merry Christmas. I love you so much."

"Merry Christmas, Kim.", he returned gently, "I love you too."

He kissed her gently and put the book away, turning out the light as he snuggled down into the bed and wrapped his arms around her. Kim laid her head on his chest and held on to him as they settled back down to sleep in each other's embrace.

**As the Bible says in John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his friend". But the ways such a sacifice is made can be many, whether it be by a man's wealth, his liberty, his health, or whether the recipient is family, friend, sometimes a stranger, or even an enemy. When the ultimate sacrifice is risked regardless of the outcome, it is done with that same love. I had hoped to finish this story by Christmas, but I hope the spirit of the season has not yet passed away so soon that the story could not be appreciated within its spirit nonetheless. It was that kind of love that inspired me to write the story in the first place.**

**I have only the Epilogue left, but you should know that the Magi are not yet finished with Tara and Kevin...**


	15. Epilogue: And the Angels Will Sing

**Author's Note: And so I conclude this Christmas story, hoping that I did indeed convey the feelings and joy of the season, albeit a little belated. And as I noted before, the Magi were not yet finished with their magic. Here is the rest of that miracle.**

**Epilogue - And the Angels Will Sing**

The door opened in a fluid motion to the quiet house, revealing no change in its appearance from the time they had left it four days prior. Tara looked at it, and a rush of relief passed through her as she gazed at the familiar sight, knowing it was home. It was their true refuge, their haven in the wild. She held her daughter in her arms, both of them drinking in that vision of safety with the same sense of assurance, that here they were indeed secure. Tara knew now she had really brought her daughter home, and the warmth that invited them in further reaffirmed it. They quickly entered, eager to escape the bitter cold that still lingered outside even though the wind was finally gone. In fact it had actually been quite bright as the sun had shined all day. It was late evening now. Christmas Day was almost over. The sky was clear, the stars all shining beautifully. Eight to ten foot snowdrifts littered the entire vista of houses along the drive, still visible in the soft starlight, though not in the streets as the plows had finally made it out and cleared the way.

Kevin pocketed his card key after unlocking the door and walked in, followed by James, then Tara let go of Jill who entered third, and she came in last. Shutting the door and locking it, she turned to Jill, who was shedding her coat. Tara reached out and took it from her, smoothed it, and opened the coat closet to put it up. Then she took her own coat and hung it up as well. She called to James and Kevin, and followed suit with theirs.

"God, it's good to be home again!", exclaimed James as he bounded up the stairs to his room.

Kevin smiled, looking contentedly at Tara, and replied, "Yeah, it is, son. It is."

She smiled as much at him and he came up and kissed her, saying afterwards, "We are safe now. All of us."

She hugged him dearly and replied, "Finally."

He pulled back and said, "And well, I guess we're back to being a one wage earner household."

"Not completely!", she riposted gently, "I'll still do some part time stuff."

He chuckled, "I know. I'm not complaining. But I guess I better make some calls now. I've got some catching up to do with the practice schedule."

She nodded and kissed him again. Then he also went upstairs to their bedroom. Tara watched him go and stood there thinking. She had done it now, putting her career at a complete standstill for her children, and wondering how she was going to do it. Looking across the foyer, she saw Jill sitting on the couch in the den, looking morosely into the empty fireplace. She was evidently deep in thought, and Tara could sense she was still troubled by everything that happened to her over the past four days.

'God!', she thought, 'This has to be about the most amazing event in my life! And hers.' She knew what it was like to go through something like this at Jill's age, and she wanted, no needed, to help her through it. Tara came and sat beside her, softly placing a hand on her back and gently caressing her. Jill responded by leaning up against her mother and putting her head onto her shoulder. Tara put her arms around and drew her in.

"Whatcha' thinking, honey?", she whispered softly.

Jill lay in her arms, silent, searching her soul.

"Just that it's Christmas, Mom,", she answered quietly, "And it's been really critical."

"You mean 'badical'?", her mother answered, chuckling.

Jill smiled and laughed with her, "Yeah, that too."

She became quiet, and soon went on, "My God, Mom. I have never, ever been so scared in my life."

"Me, too, honey.", Tara whispered grimly, "God knows. Me, too."

"When I think back over it now.", Jill continued, " I don't know... ...I still can't believe I managed to stay alive through it all."

Tara held her close, staring off in the distance and caressing her hair slowly, her eyes watering again on thinking how close she came to losing her.

"I know, honey. I know. It really is a miracle."

"It really makes you think how something like this could happen against all the odds like that like... ...like-"

"Like somebody was watching over us, huh?", Tara finished for her.

Jill looked up at her momentarily, their eyes meeting and confirming each other's thought on that idea, their gaze full of joy that they were both there now, together. Then she snuggled back down, embracing her mother closer.

"Yeah.", she said, "Like a guardian angel."

Tara nodded to herself in affirmation, softly kissing her daughter's forehead.

"It's like Uncle Ron said.", Jill said, "The angels really had to be watching over us this Christmas. And then what he said about the Magi was really cool."

"Yes, it was, honey."

"But Uncle Ron's Jewish, so I wonder why he said that?"

Tara laughed, enjoying the turn of thought her daughter just made, "Well, he always celebrated Christmas with Kim ever since they were very young children, so I'm sure he knows all of the Christmas stories by now. Your dad knows them too."

"Just like you know about Channukah and all that."

"That's right, honey. We respect both traditions."

Jill considered that, then replied, "That makes sense."

"You know.', Tara said, "I think we'll make it to church this Sunday. It's something we need to do more often. And now we'll be able to keep up with it better."

"And temple?"

Tara smiled and replied, 'Sure. If you want, you bet."

Jill sighed, satisfied, but a new thought surfaced in her mind, which troubled her again.

"I'm so sorry, Mom.", she whispered, "I didn't want to be responsible for making you quit your job."

"Don't be, honey.", her mother replied soothingly, "I love my work, and it will still be there when I've finished taking care of you, not that I'll really stop doing that, you know. I can go back to it once you're completely out on your own. But doing this... ...this is far more important. I should have done it long before now."

"But won't you lose your certifications or something?"

Tara said, "No, dear. I'll still do enough part time to keep my skills up. Don't worry about that. I'll be fine."

Jill didn't speak again for awhile, just laying there in her mother's embrace as Tara continued to stroke her head softly.

"You know.", Jill went on, "It's just that I guess I also kind of owe a lot of people a lot of thanks. Aunt Kim and Uncle Ron, Jim and Tim, K-J, Mim, Mr. Sandidge, Lar—Jason."

Jill seemed apprensive about mentioning him, but her mother smiled, "It's okay, Jill. He did save you. I really can't thank him enough for that."

She lay pensive in her mother's arms.

"Mom.", she finally said, "Really, what about Jason? He really doesn't bother you any more?"

Tara continued to stroke her daughter's hair, not answering at first.

Finally sighing, she answered, "It's not a problem for me anymore, Jill."

"So, you're not troubled about him at all? Even now?"

Tara looked straight ahead at nothing particular, still caressing her daughter's head, "It's fine, really. You see, I know now, deep down, that the man who brought you back to me is someone to whom I will always be grateful for saving your life, and he is not the same person who attacked me so long ago. That person, that monster, I know now is long dead and gone. More importantly, the monster that I let into my heart is also gone.

Jill pulled away gently and looked into her mother's eyes, concerned.

"I had let him stay buried in me for so long, continuing to haunt me.",Tara said very softly, "to hurt me, frighten me. The monster was always there, because I allowed it to stay there by not truly forgiving him. God! Both you and your father were so right. Forgiving him wasn't meant to help him so much as it was to help me."

Jill gazed at her, not responding, her eyes tearing up.

"But, Mom.", she said, "Really, if it still bothers you, you don't have to see him anymore now."

Tara shook her head, "It's not that, dear. I actually look forward to seeing him and Sam and Melissa again. And I will be, as Melissa's doctor. I'm still going to do that."

Jill finally relaxed, her smile coming back, satisfied that her mother really was okay with Jason and nodded, "I'm glad. Because I really do like him and Sam. You know he invited me out to his church. What do you think?"

Tara chuckled, "I don't know about that, Jill, but we'll see. Let's just take this one step at a time, okay?"

"Sure, Mom", she said contentedly.

"Not that I have any problem with it, but was there something that happened for this new interest?"

"Well." Jill replied tentatively, "It's because I went back and visited Melissa after you all left."

Tara looked at her intently, "Oh?"

A look of awe came over Jill's face as she said, "Mom, I can't imagine what it was like going through what that little girl has had to go through. I'd have to say she was probably the bravest person in that room."

Tara nodded, smiliing, "I don't think anyone would argue that point, dear."

"It's just that I want to help her, to be there for her. I told her we could be sisters. She really liked that."

Tara gazed at her daughter, mildly surprised that she had done this. But it had been a day of wonders, not only a day of wonders, but the best day for wonders to occur, and it gladdened her heart that Jill would be one of the people this day who would give of themselves, another gift given continuing the tradition just as the Magi had first started.

Jill asked, "is that okay?"

She smiled even broader, "I think that would be absolutely wonderful, honey. Just wonderful."

Her daughter smiled back just as big, "Thanks, Mom."

Kevin came down the stairs and entered the den, saying, "Well, the guys have been covering for me for the last four days. So I've got some payback to give them."

Tara looked up concerned, saying, "Not today! It's Christmas!"

Kevin laughed, "No, they weren't that cruel! But I'll have to cover them over New Year's."

She relaxed and nodded, "Good. That's fine. We'll work that out."

He came and sat down beside Jill on the other side from Tara and put an arm around her, kissing her cheek.

"Everything okay here?", he asked.

"Just fine, Dad.", Jill said with a smirk, "But, am I sort of grounded now?"

Her father regarded her with a bemused look, saying, "Baby, I think that you learned a really tough lesson these last four days. Do you agree?"

Jill nodded energetically, "Oh, yeah, Dad. Totally. I know I could never forget this."

Kevin nodded, "Good. Then I think we can put this behind us for now, assuming now that you are going to listen to us a little better?"

"Because you do sorta know what you're talking about?", Jill finished.

Kevin gently nailed her with his gaze to make that point and said, "And?"

Jill snorted briefly and laughed, "Yeah, Dad. I get it. I will."

"Excellent. Then we're done with it.", as he looked over to Tara, who silently nodded her assent.

"Hey!", exclaimed James as he bounded down the stairs, "It's on video news!"

"What?", asked Kevin.

"The rescue! Looks like the news channels are all over it!"

James stopped at the entry and faced the video screen in the den, "Visual On. Cable news 1425."

The video panel jumped to life, images of snow and activity out in the country flitting across the screen as a narrator cut in with hurried speech.

"... and officials at Team Possible have confirmed that the recent rescue operation was indeed successful, but at this time are not confirming nor denying any rumors of a military operation in the area. This information comes hard on the heels of the recent announcement by the world renowned crime fighting and anti-terrorism group that they were separating from official government service and privatizing once more as they were eight years prior before being absorbed into the federal bureaucracy. There are unconfirmed reports that this will cost the crime fighting family a major portion of their wealth to finance themselves out from under that government umbrella, but officials at both Team Possible and the Department of Defense will neither confirm nor deny any of this.

"However, in an exclusive report on the suspected military activity, we have an eyewitness account of the recent operation which seems to confirm there was an actual combat situation out here to the west of Middleton. Located some thirty miles west is the farm of Mr. Pete Sandidge, who our reporters have said witnessed the entire firefight and will swear that the attacking troops were singlehandedly defeated by Kim Possible herself. If so, this would be a first as Miss Possible has been reported to not be personally involved in combat for several years now and there had always been speculation that she was past her prime. But if this is true, then it would hush all those nay-sayers and prove that she is 'still all that', as some of her most notorious former arch-foes have said of her..."

"Oh, brother.", Tara muttered, shaking her head, "Even leaving government service and going private, she'll still have to deal with the press."

"I'm afraid it comes with the territory, honey.", replied Kevin, sighing.

"Yeah, I know.", Tara answered just as sadly as they listened to more of the report.

"...And now we go live to the Pete Sandidge farm and to our star reporter, Jackson Pratt."

The screen changed and a man dressed in a large heavy overcoat with a hood was holding a microphone in front of him, standing on the porch of a worn down house. Next to him stood an wizened old man, completely bald with a hook nose and dark eyes. He smiled a toothy grin, but was missing three or four of his teeth.

"Jackson Pratt here.", the first man said smarmily, "Reporting from the Pete Sandidge farm west of Middleton. This was the site of the latest Team Possible rescue action. Although the official reports by Team Possible account this as a pure rescue effort, there is evidence that more than that occurred here. Most conclusive of this is a first hand eyewitness report."

He turned to the old man, "Mr. Sandidge, tell us what you saw."

A little surprised that he was going to get to actually speak, Pete Sandidge suddenly turned away from the camera as he juggled with something in his mouth. Two seconds later he turned back around and smiled at the camera, his teeth now back in place.

"Uh, sorry, had to get my dentures back in."

The reporter smiled uncomfortably and repeated his question, "Uh, yes. Mr. Sandidge could you tell us-"

The old man interrupted him by stepping up and taking the microphone out of his hand, speaking in a gravelly voice, "Sure thing, youngster! Now first there was nothing out here but the worst kind of weather you would ever have seen in your life! I should know! I was once the best bush pilot in Alaska you ever saw! And I can tell you-!"

Pete Sandidge droned on and on, but after the first sentence, Jill didn't hear a word. She stared at the video screen , trying to fit this man into her memory of that first night, but she just could not reconcile the figure she was watching as the man who first led her to Jason Morgan's cabin. She got up and walked over to the screen, puzzled. 'This wasn't him.', she thought, 'Who was it?'

Staring at Jill with a worried look, Tara got up from the couch and went to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Dear?', she asked, "what is it?"

"It isn't him.", she whispered, "He wasn't the one."

"What do you mean, honey?", asked her father, who had also gotten up and joined them.

Jill explained, "When I first got lost, after the car caught fire. You see, I never would have found Jason's cabin, would have never been saved by him, if that man hadn't showed me the way from the road. I mean, he appeared out of nowhere. I had no idea how he got there in the first place, or why. But he led me to the cabin and then disappeared into the snow, like a ghost. The next thing I knew, I was inside and Jason was caring for me. Jason never knew I was there until I crashed into his door. He thought all along it was Mr. Sandidge, and I just assumed he was right. But if that's Mr. Sandidge on the video, he wasn't the man who saved me."

"What man was this, Jill?", asked Tara, "I thought Jason had found you out there."

"No, Mom. Remember what I said before? It was this older man I told you about."

"Oh, that's right, honey, I remember you saying that."

"Anyway, this man really is just as responsible for saving my life as Jason, but now I don't know who he is."

Jill continued in an awed voice, "I guess I never will now. He was about sixty, wore a black sheepskin jacket."

She walked away from the front of the video screen as she thought out loud.

"And he had white hair and a white moustache."

Jill stopped cold, the color draining completely from her face. She stood staring at something to the side of the video screen.

Concerned, Tara frowned and came up to her, "What, Jill? What is it?"

The girl didn't move. She kept staring at one thing. It was a picture in a display case of a man wearing a black leather sheepskin lined military jacket, standing in front of a World War Two fighter plane.

Kevin came up behind her and he and Tara saw what she was looking at, their faces going pale. Jill slowly pointed at her great grandfather's picture in the display case bearing his name. James soon joined them, curiosity in his eyes. Her eyes wide open in shock, Jill covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at her mother.

In stunned words, she said, "Oh my God, Mom!Oh my God. I swear. It was him. It was great granddad."

Tara gaped at her, looking back and forth between the picture of her grandfather and her daughter's ashen face with tears in her eyes.

James looked up at the display case in awe, blinking his eyes and said softly, "Like.. ...an angel?"

Tara suddenly shuddered as a wave, a chill, something, passed through her. A feeling? A power? No, it was like a presence.

"Oh my God.", she whispered.

Yes. It was a presence.

Jill turned and stared at the picture again. It didn't change, but somehow she could see her great grandfather's face transform as the black moustache and salt and pepper coloring in his hair transformed into the pure white of his older years, and there was no question in her mind, it was him. He was the one who led her to safety. It could not have been anyone else.

She turned and hugged her mother, crying, who stood there just as stunned as she was. Kevin held on to her from behind. They stood there, rooted to the spot, holding each other, and they all drank in the wonder and amazement of the miracle in their midst.

"And some people say there is no such thing as angels watching over us", Kevin whispered in sheer reverence.

The tears poured down Tara's face as she looked at her grandfather's picture in the display, secure in her husband's arms, with her daughter and her son safe with her, warm in her embrace. She knew now what had happened. Her grandfather had led the way, had made it possible for Jill to be saved. He had given Jason the opportunity to redeem himself, had given Tara the chance to forgive him, and heal herself, and she remembered then, the last few lines of the letter her grandfather has written her just before he passed away, the letter that itself was in that display case.

"_I want you to know that I'll always be watching over you from above, and I hope you'll see my smiles heading in your direction every time the sun comes up. God bless you and keep you, my princess, for now you are my queen, and will be always._"

She reached out and touched the glass of the case softly, reaching out to her grandfather across the ages, across the heavens, and she smiled through the tears, knowing now her grandfather was indeed watching over her and her family... ...his family.

"And the gifts of the Magi will abound.", she whispered softly, gazing at his picture.

Gazing joyfully back at her from the photograph, her grandfather's eyes seemed to twinkle at her then, his smile going just a bit wider.

"Thank you, Grandpa.", she whispered again, "Thank you."

* * *

**THE END**

**...God bless you all. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...**


End file.
